Context

• Recently, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has announced a new category of awards titled ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021.

About the Samman

• The Prerak Dauur Samman has a total of five additional sub- categories -Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring) – with top three cities being recognized in each.

In a departure from the present criteria of evaluating cities on ‘population category’, this new category will categorize cities on the basis of six select indicator wise performance criteria which are as follows:

• Segregation of waste into Wet, Dry and Hazard categories
• Processing capacity against wet waste generated
• Processing and recycling of wet and dry waste
• Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste processing
• Percentage of waste going to landfills
• Sanitation status of cities

Back to Basics

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U)

• Since its launch in 2014, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) has made significant progress in the area of both sanitation and solid waste management. 4324 Urban ULBs have been declared ODF (4204 certified ODF), 1306 cities certified ODF+ and 489 cities certified ODF++.
• In the area of solid waste management, 96% of wards have 100% door-to door collection while 66% of the total waste generated is being processed.
• A total of six cities have been certified as 5 Star, 86 as 3 star and 64 as 1 star under the Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free Cities.

Facts for Prelims-

• Lighthouse cities such as Navi Mumbai, Surat, Khargone and Karad.
• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India takes up the Swachh Survekshan in urban areas and the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitationin rural areas. 
• The Quality Council of India(QCI) has been commissioned the responsibility of carrying out the assessment.
• Mysuru had won the award for the Cleanest City of India in the first edition of the survey.
• Indore has retained the top position for three consecutive years (2017,2018, 2019).

ODF + and ODF ++

• The ODF+ protocol focuses on sustaining community/ public toilet usage by ensuring their functionality, cleanliness, and maintenance
• ODF+ status will be given to the state, If, at any point in a day, not a single person should be defecating and/or urinating in the open.
• The ODF++ protocol focuses on achieving sanitation sustainability by addressing a complete sanitation value chain, including safe containment, processing, and disposal of fecal sludge and septage.