Context: This editorial is based on the news “Numbers game: On the Swachh Survekshan awards” which was published in The hindu. Recently, the Centre has announced the Swachh Survekshan Awards for the eighth year running.

Swachh Survekshan Dominance: Indore, Surat Lead Cleanliness Index 

Indore and Surat: India’s Cleanest Cities, A Seven-Year Legacy

• Indore and Surat. Both cities were tied at the top place among cities with a population over 1 lakh.
  • Indore has been adjudged India’s cleanest city for the seventh year in a row. 
  • Both cities had 100% door-to-door collection of waste, 98% segregation at source and 100% remediation of dumpsites. 

City Rankings Stability: Top Performers Hold Firm Amidst Volatility

• Bhopal, Indore, Surat and Visakhapatnam have entrenched themselves over the years. 
  • There is a certain volatility beyond the top 10 cities but the top cities are consistent, which is a degree of stagnation.

Swachh Survekshan Awards: Diverse Categories, Local Excellences & Sanitation Challenges

Twists of the Survey: Diverse Awardees, Motivating Local Excellence

• Multiple Categories: It creates multiple sub-categories on the basis of population.
  • Reason: Many more cities have a chance at top-scoring in some category or the other. 
• Awarded Regions: 
  • Mhow in Madhya Pradesh has been awarded as the cleanest ‘cantonment’ town. 
  • Varanasi and Prayagraj are winners of the ‘Cleanest Ganga town’.
  • Chandigarh is the cleanest ‘Best Safari Mitra Surakshit Sheher’ (Cities safest for sanitation workers). 
• The underlying principle of several Ranking Schemes: To motivate cities, villages, schools to pull themselves up on their own mettle. 

On Sanitation:  Impact of History, Economics, and Power Dynamics

• Factors of the Sanitation: Public sanitation of the city is heavily influenced by the history, economic conditions and proximity to power. 
  • Few cities at the top means that there is less attention paid to the factors that hinder a general improvement in sanitation. 

Way Forward: Retiring Leaders, Addressing Challenges, Government Intervention in Civic Sanitation

• Better Updation: To make future editions of the survey work as a useful barometer of progress is to acknowledge that consistent toppers have already put in place a well-developed system and having done so, retire them from future rankings for a few years. 
  • It will focus and highlight challenges that hamper other cities. 
• Intervention by the Government: For civic sanitation to remain a sustainable movement, it is high time that the government intervenes and prevents it from being a numbers game.

Conclusion

• Swachh Survekshan Awards showcasing Indore and Surat as consistent leaders in cleanliness. However, concerns of stagnation and the need for a dynamic approach are evident. Recalibration in future surveys, retiring top performers temporarily, focusing on challenges, and necessitating proactive government intervention for a sustainable civic sanitation movement.