NEW DELHI: As part of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India today to enhance India’s waste management sector. The MoU, operational for the period of 2021-26, was signed on December 7, in the presence of Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, MoHUA. Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary and National Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) signed the MoU from India, with Ms. Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, UNDP India.
Durga Shanker Mishra said that the agreement comes in the backdrop of 75th year of India’s independence. UNDP is supporting MoHUA to set up and operationalise 75 Swachhata Kendras across the country. He thanked UNDP for its long-standing association with MoHUA. Noda commented that they are committed to working cooperatively with the MoHUA to promote, scale-up, and replicate a sustainable waste management model across cities in line with SBM-U 2.0’s goal of ‘zero waste’ while also improving the lives of informal waste pickers, as stated in the MoU.