Context: 

The on-ground assessment of cleanliness of cities as a part of the Swachh Survekshan 2023 began on Monday. 

• The exercise will be held to prepare the annual ranking of the cleanest cities, to be announced later in the year.

About Swachh Survekshan:

• Swachh Survekshan, conducted since 2016, is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey and is the part of the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)
• Primary Goal: 
  • To encourage large scale citizen participation and 
  • To create awareness about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities better places to reside in.
• Swachh Survekshan 2023 is the eighth annual edition of the ranking.
• Theme for 2023: Waste to Wealth for Garbage Free Cities.
• The assessment is to be conducted in 4 phases as compared to 3 phases in earlier editions. The survey would give priority to the principle of 3Rs – Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.
• Assessment parameters: 
  1. Cleanliness of public spaces and toilets
  2. Collection of feedback from residents
  3. Performance of municipalities in waste collection, segregation and processing.
• Marking Pattern: 
  • The cities will be marked out of a total 9,500 marks, of which 53 percent is service level progress, 26 percent certification and 23 percent citizens’ feedback. 
  • Within service level progress, 40 percent of the marks will be for processing and disposal of waste, 33 percent for segregated collection and 27 percent for used water management and protection of sanitation workers.

Swachh Survekshan 2022 Rankings:

• Cleanest States:
  • States with More than 100 Urban Local Bodies: Madhya Pradesh 
  • States with less than 100 Urban Local Bodies: Tripura
• Cleanest City:
  • More than 1 lakh Population: Indore
  • Less than 1 lakh Population: Panchgani from Maharashtra
• Best Ganga Town: Haridwar in Uttarakhand 
• Fast Mover City Award: Shivamogga in Karnataka

News Source: Indian Express