The cleanest city award is in alignment with “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of a Garbage Free India under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0
President Ram Nath Kovind will honour the winners of Swachh Survekshan 2021 at the Swachh Amrit Mahotsav organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)in New Delhi on November 20.
The cleanest city award is in alignment with “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of a Garbage Free India under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0,” read the press release issued by the Ministry. It added, “The Mahotsav will also pay tribute to the sanitation workers by recognising top-performing cities under the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge earlier initiated by the Ministry.”
The 6th edition of Swachh Survekshan originally started with the participation of 73 cities in 2016 to 4,320 in 2021 and has now become the world’s largest urban cleanliness survey.
“The award ceremony will salute the efforts of the top-performing cities under the ‘Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge’, an initiative introduced last November by MoHUA to ensure safety and dignity of sewer and septic tank cleaners and eradicating the menace of hazardous cleaning from the urban sanitation lexicon,” said MoHUA.
The ceremony will be attended by numerous dignitaries, including Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, MoS Kaushal Kishore, chief ministers, urban development ministers and mayors from across the country.
Last year, the ministry launched SafaiMitra Suraksha Challenge, a pilot initiative, in 246 cities to encourage civic agencies to adopt mechanised cleaning of sewer and septic tanks and the safety of workers. On November 16, the Centre made the safety of sanitation workers an important component of Swachh Survekshan 2022. According to MoHUA, the 24×7 helpline number, 14420, is currently operational in 345 cities while 210 cities have functional Sanitation Response Units.