Swachh Survekshan Ranking 2020 was released at Swachh Mahotsav held on the virtual platform in New Delhi on 20th August by the Government of India, wherein Jharkhand has been declared as the best-performing state in the country in states with up to 100 municipal bodies. The award is a matter of pride for the Government of Jharkhand, urban bodies and citizens of Jharkhand.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri released rankings of Swachh Survekshan 2020 in New Delhi. The Union Minister also felicitated states and cities with good performance through the virtual platform. For unavoidable reasons, Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not participate in the event but his message was conveyed to the officials and representatives of all municipal bodies of the country. The highlight of the rankings was that even in Swachh Survekshan 2020, Jharkhand’s dominance was not only intact but the state was honoured as the best-performing state in the country in the category of 100 ULB states in the country in the field of sanitation.
Four municipal bodies of the state were also honoured for good performances in different categories. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri along with Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, Durga Shankar Mishra also addressed the event. Talks were also held with citizens of various states.
Highlights of the rankings for Jharkhand were:
- Jharkhand has been honoured with the best-performing state (in states up to 100 ULBs) for the efforts being made in the field of cleanliness.
- Jamshedpur topped the field of citizen feedback in the category of cities with a population of 3-10 lakh in the country.
- Best city honours in citizen feedback to Madhupur in cities with a population of 50 thousand to 1 lakh in the eastern region of the country.
- In cities with a population of 25 to 50 thousand in the eastern region of the country, Jugsalai was honoured with the best city for innovation and best practices.
- Khunti was honoured as the best city in citizen feedback in cities with a population of 25 to 50 thousand in the eastern region of the country.
4242 cities from across the country participated in the survey, including 41 municipal bodies in Jharkhand. The survey commenced from 4th January this year and the survey was conducted through various means in different cities for about a month. The Government of India had arranged online and physical verification for the survey. A total of 6000 points were earmarked in this cleanliness competition. A provision of 1500 points for service level progress, 1500 points for direct observation, 1500 points for certification, 1500 points for citizen feedback was made.
Jharkhand has been among the top ranks in the competition in categories of cities as well as state level for the last three years. The state has achieved the best-performing state of the country in 2018, the second-best performing state in 2019 and once again in 2020 also the country’s best-performing state (in 100 ULB states). This year’s award is also special as, under the guidance of the state Chief Minister Hemant Soren, a number of new initiatives have been launched by the Department in the field of urban sanitation. On behalf of the State Government, Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh, Suda director Amit Kumar, deputy director Ram Krishna Kumar and Swachh Bharat Mission expert Mohammad Sarfaraz were present in the programme through video conferencing from the State Secretariat.
Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh congratulated the city development and housing department, municipal bodies and citizens of the state for the good performance of the state. Secretary, Department of Urban Development and Housing, Government of Jharkhand, Vinay Kumar Choubey congratulated the officials, personnel of the city development department, state Urban Development Agency and municipal bodies and the citizens of the state and said that this moment is a matter of pride for the state and the citizens. State Urban Development Agency director Amit Kumar also thanked the officials, personnel, cleanliness workers of all municipal bodies for their cooperation and expressed hope that the campaign will continue to support all.
Some of the important efforts made by the Government of Jharkhand and the civic bodies in the field of urban sanitation are:
- A multi-pronged strategy used. Under this, a conducive environment was created for the implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission through appropriate capacity addition in cities. On the other hand, citizens were encouraged to actively participate in mission activities.
- Door to door garbage collection was ensured in all the cities of the state.
- With two shifts in the cities, garbage collection and sweeping also started at night hours
- There was a provision for the lifting of dry and wet waste for solid and liquid waste management.
- Special attention was given to the cleanliness in small cities.
- 39 cities in the state have been ODF plus.
- Two cities of the state, Jamshedpur and Sahibganj were odf plus.
- During the entire mission period, 217691 individual toilets were constructed in the cities of the state.
- During the entire mission period, 590 (5196 seats) community toilets were constructed in the cities of the state.
- A total of 320 (640 seats) modular toilets and 308 (617 seats) modular urinal were constructed during the mission period.
- Tracking system was installed in the garbage collection vehicles of all the municipal bodies.
- Grievance redressal is being done successfully through cleanliness app in municipal bodies.
- The work of municipal bodies is also being documented in a proper manner.
- Special attention is being given to cleanliness, operation and management of community and public toilets.
- Special attention is being given to the availability and maintenance of water in toilets.
- Public awareness and subject-based cleanliness drive are being carried out in a comprehensive manner.
- Workshops are also organized for senior citizens, swachhta messengers, ward councillor etc. Continuous toilet use and waste management have been encouraged.
- Clean hotels, clean religious places, clean hospital competitions and best toilet competitions were organized to ensure awareness and participation of common citizens.
- Jamshedpur has been certified as a three-star city.