Swachh Bharat Mission: Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021 set to be launched in 17,500 villages from tomorrow

Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021: The Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021 or rural cleanliness survey 2021 is set to be launched in villages on Thursday under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), according to the Jal Shakti Ministry. The Survekshan is a survey that assesses the state of hygiene, cleanliness and sanitation in rural India as a part of the Centre’s initiative to award Open Defecation Free (ODF) Plus status to villages. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who is the Union Minister of Jal Shakti, will be launching the programme along with his deputy Prahlad Singh Patel. The Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021 would be carried out by an expert agency.

The Swachh Survekshan Grameen 2021 would be launched under the second phase of the Swachh Bharat Mission. Before this, the Swachh Survekshan Grameen had been carried out by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2018 and 2019.

As part of the 2021 rural cleanliness survey, as many as 17,475 villages spanning across 698 districts in India would be covered, and the surveyors would be looking at about 87,250 public places like anganwadi centres, markets, religious places, schools, and public health centres. Not only that but nearly 1.75 lakh households would also be interviewed to receive feedback on issues related to the Swachh Bharat Mission. Citizens would be urged to take to the internet to provide feedback on issues related to sanitation online.

ODF-plus status aims to ensure management of solid as well as liquid waste and is an upgradation of ODF status in which construction of adequate toilets was required so that people did not have to defecate in the open.

For ODF-plus, local bodies are required to ensure that toilets are accessible to all households, panchayat buildings, schools and anganwadi centres in the villages. Along with this, they are also required to ensure that solid and liquid waste is effectively managed in at least 80% of the households and in all public places so that there is minimal littering and minimal water stagnation.

The survey would give 30% weight to direct observation of sanitation, while citizen’s feedback would account for 35% of the score. The remaining 35% weightage would be accorded to service level progress on parameters related to sanitation.