New Delhi: For the fifth consecutive year, Indore was awarded the title of India’s Cleanest City under Swachh Survekshan, while Surat and Vijayawada bagged the second and third spots respectively in the ‘more than 1 lakh population’ category.
The President of India Ramnath Kovind on Saturday honoured the awardees of 'Swachh Survekshan (SS) 2021' at the 'Swachh Amrit Mahotsav' organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.
During his address, he called manual scavenging a 'shameful practice' and said that its eradication is not only the responsibility of the government but also of society and citizens. He said that Swachh Survekshan Awards have special significance as it comes amid celebrations of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'.
Kovind quoted Mahatma Gandhi "cleanliness is next to godliness" and said, "According to him cleanliness should be the top priority. This priority of Gandhiji has been carried forward by the Government of India as a mass movement through Swachh Bharat Mission. Our efforts to make the country completely neat and clean are a true tribute to our freedom fighters."
Winners of Swachh Survekshan 2021
Varanasi emerged as the ‘Best Ganga Town’ while Ahmedabad Cantonment won the title of ‘India’s Cleanest Cantonment’, followed by Meerut Cantonment and Delhi Cantonment.
In the State awards, Chhattisgarh, for the third consecutive year emerged as the ‘Cleanest State’ in the category of “more than 100 Urban Local Bodies” while Jharkhand, for the second time, won the Cleanest State award in the “less than 100 ULBs category”.
A total of 9 cities – Indore, Surat, New Delhi Municipal Council, Navi Mumbai, Ambikapur, Mysuru, Noida, Vijayawada and Patan- have been certified as 5-star cities while 143 cities have been certified as 3 stars.
During the event, the president in his address said, Safai Mitras and sanitation workers have continuously contributed their services even during the COVID pandemic. He added that the government is trying to ensure that the life of no sanitation worker is at risk due to unsafe cleaning practices.
"Manual scavenging is a shameful practice. Eradication of this practice is not only the responsibility of the government but also of the society and citizens," he said.
He said that in order to keep cities clean, effective management of solid waste is essential and stressed that environment conservation has been an integral part of the traditional lifestyle of India.
"Today whole world is emphasising on environment protection in which focus is on to reduce, reuse and recycle the resources".