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This is an archive article published on September 14, 2024
After Indore emerged winner 7 times, clean city rankings to have ‘golden cities’ category
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs official said the modalities of the new categories for the past winners would be worked out.
2 min read
Manohar Lal Khattar (File Photo)With Indore winning the tag of cleanest city for seven years in a row, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said Friday that the next round of the Swachhata rankings will have a separate category for cities that have been ranked number one in the past, leaving the general competition open for new winners.
“It is true that sometimes a student who gets first place in the first standard continues to get the first rank every year. Sometimes we hear that ‘if only one will get first place every time, then why should others put any effort’. When we see the competition between cities, we see Indore gets first place repeatedly. So, we have come up with a new category for cities that get first place, called the Golden Cities Club,” Khattar said at a press conference.
He said the competition for cleanest city would exclude the “golden cities” and the winner of the general competition would be added to the club the next year. While Indore has won the overall cleanest city award for seven years, this year it shared the top spot with Surat.
The awards, which were launched in 2016, include different categories like large cities, small cities, Ganga towns and cantonment boards.
A Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs official said the modalities of the new categories for the past winners would be worked out. The top rank holders for three consecutive years would be included, the official said.
Meanwhile, Khattar announced that the government’s annual cleanliness drive from September 17 to October 2, as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission, will target the cleaning of two lakh locations, including public buildings, commercial areas and public toilets. At the press conference, Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil said the Swachh Bharat Mission had led to 93% of women in the country having access to a toilet, as per a World Health Organisation report.
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