Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26 Announced
#GS-2 #Governance & Social Justice #Current Events #National #GS-3 #Environment #Sustainable Development #Swachh Bharat Mission #Urban Local Bodies #Waste Management
Key takeaways
- The President of India conferred the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26, marking the 10th edition of the annual cleanliness survey.
- The initiative covered 4,751 cities across India, evaluating them through 43 standardized indicators and feedback from 2.70 crore citizens.
- Navi Mumbai won the top rank in the Super Swachh League, while GVMC Visakhapatnam led among cities with over one million population.
- The new Swachh Shehar Jodi framework saw Ahmedabad and Sanand take first place as mentor and mentee cities.
- Nationwide urban waste processing reached 80%, and cities successfully reclaimed 11,000 acres of land from old dumpsites.
Why in News
- The President of India recently presented the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26 at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
- The ceremony recognized top-performing Urban Local Bodies across the nation by presenting 60 national awards.
About the Swachh Survekshan Awards
- This initiative serves as the world's largest annual urban sanitation and waste management survey.
- It functions under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) led by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
- The program started in 2016 with 73 cities and has now expanded to 4,751 cities in its 10th edition.
- Assessors evaluated cities using 43 standardized indicators spread across 10 core domains.
- Independent evaluators used a fully digital GPS-monitored system alongside feedback from 2.70 crore citizens.
- The primary goal is to foster healthy urban competition, improve waste management, and encourage long-term behavioral change.
Key Features of the 2025-26 Edition
- The government introduced the Swachh Shehar Jodi initiative to pair 70 mentor cities with 191 mentee cities for peer learning.
- For the first time, the survey added specific categories like Clean Himalayan City, Swachh River Front Town, and Swachh Coastal Town.
- More than 1,700 smaller urban local bodies improved their overall ranks compared to the previous year.
- The government introduced the PRAGATI-50 scheme to transform 50 cities into technology-driven model clean cities.
- India achieved key national milestones, including processing 80% of urban waste and reclaiming 11,000 acres of land from legacy dumpsites.
Major Rankings and Winners
- Navi Mumbai took first place in the Super Swachh League, followed by Surat and Vijayawada.
- GVMC Visakhapatnam earned the top spot among cities with a population over one million, followed by Jabalpur and Lucknow.
- The pair of Ahmedabad as mentor and Sanand as mentee won the top rank in the Swachh Shehar Jodi category.
- Rudrapur achieved the top spot among Clean Himalayan Cities, while Rewa led the Swachh River Front Towns.
- Puri secured the first rank among Swachh Coastal Towns, and 30 cities received State First awards.