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The Department of Urban Development under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has announced the results of the Swachh Shehar Jodi initiative under Swachh Survekshan 2025-26.
The Swachh Shehar Jodi initiative is a flagship peer-learning programme under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0. It was launched by Union Minister Manohar Lal on September 27, 2025, as the first-ever urban waste management mentorship initiative, involving 70 high-performing mentor cities and around 191 mentee cities from 33 States and Union Territories. The initiative promotes the principle of 'Each One - Teach One', rooted in India's Guru-Shishya tradition, where knowledge, experience and best practices are passed on from one city to another to collectively improve urban cleanliness. The top three Swachh Shehar Jodi award winners were identified based on their combined scores as mentor and mentee cities. The aggregate scores reflect the joint performance and collaborative efforts of both cities, recognising mentorship outcomes alongside improvements in cleanliness and service delivery. Rank 1: Ahmedabad (Million Plus Population Category) and Sanand (20,000-50,000 Population Category), Gujarat. Rank 2: Indore (Million Plus Population Category) and Depalpur (Less than 20,000 Population Category), Madhya Pradesh. Rank 3: Tirupati (50,000-3 Lakh Population Category) and Kuppam (20,000-50,000 Population Category), Andhra Pradesh. President Droupadi Murmu honoured India's cleanest cities at the Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 Award Ceremony in New Delhi on November 11, marking the 10th edition of the world's largest urban sanitation survey. The theme for Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 is 'Swachhata Ki Nayi Pehel - Badhayein Haath, Karein Safai Saath'. As part of the 10th edition, 4,751 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) were assessed across 176 sub-indicators in 10 sections. More than 3,000 trained field assessors conducted on-ground surveys covering all ULBs, supported by real-time, GPS-enabled monitoring. The Ministry stated that the assessment process, from evidence submission to verification, was conducted digitally, with transparency and quality checks at every stage. A total of 60 national awards were announced under seven categories, including the top three Swachh Shehar Jodis, top three clean cities, rankings for the first, second and third positions across five population categories, Swachh River Front Towns, Swachh Coastal Towns, Clean Himalayan Cities and the first-ranked Swachh City in each State and Union Territory. (ANI)
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