With the Swachh Pakhwada on September 16-30, 2025, as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), the culture of joint effort was rekindled by activities like Shramdaan and the national appeal in the form of the slogan Ek Din, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath. This campaign rallied citizens, local governments and institutions throughout the nation and made us realise that it is not a single day of being clean, but a long-term civic practice, which needs systems, leadership, and civic involvement.
The 2025 Swachh Survekshan, the signature project of SBM that was started in 2014, also provided an extra push to the national cleanliness campaign that has been underway since the year before. Cities were not competing only on the basis of the rankings but on the basis of the popularisation of their dedication to sanitation, innovativeness, and inclusion. However, it is more than just numbers: the truth is that a clean city cannot be measured only in scores. It is influenced by the institutional power and involvement of citizens and the welfare of sanitation workers.
The city of Indore that has always topped the Swachh Survekshan rankings is usually referred to as the gold standard. Although the initiatives of its municipal corporation have been exemplary, whereby door-to-door waste collection, source segregation, and scientific waste processing have been the order of the day, the success of the city is also based on immense community involvement. Indore citizens have accepted cleanliness as a civic responsibility, rather than a compliance measure, starting with school children to residential welfare associations.
The fact that Lucknow has soared up the rankings this year is a result of leadership and teamwork. Indrajit Singh, the IAS officer who was leading the transformation, remarked, “The transformation of Lucknow could only be achieved because of the mutual decision of citizens and officials to work together. The beauty of our city is a civic duty. The city rose tremendously through strategic interventions, citizen campaigns and upgrades in infrastructure.
Bhopal has also demonstrated that institutional commitment can be used to make change. The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) concentrated on empowering its MISs, enhancing the welfare of the sanitation workers, and enhancing waste disposal facilities. These endeavours, along with citizen feedback systems and third-party validation, helped the city enhance its reputation.
To be ranked among the top, cities are evaluated through a rigorous 45-day programme that is divided into four phases where each phase is assessed based on a score and criteria, and the certifications, which will greatly affect the overriding rankings. These stages are organised on the basis of 10 themes namely access to sanitation, segregation of waste, used water management, citizen response, welfare of sanitation workers, visible cleanliness, etc. All these are rated using detailed indicators and sub-indicators to make sure that cities are rated not only on intention but functional infrastructure and innovation as well as effect.
Phase 1 and 2 have 500 points each. Phase 1 has the smallest score, but it cannot be disregarded; one point can lead to the dynamic curve of a tapering or a booming. It draws attention towards Service Level Progress (SLP) like door-to-door waste collection, source segregation, toilet coverage and functionality and faecal sludge treatment. Urban local bodies (ULBs) provide monthly MIS data, and telephonic feedback is added to scores.
Phase 2, which was performed around June, supports Service Level Progress but supports the citizen feedback by using apps and campaigns. It assesses the level of cleanliness of public areas, the functionality of community/public toilets, and waste processing facilities.
Phase 3 is approximately field validation. The composting and recycling facilities, dumpsite remediation, STPs and FSTPs, and validation of the ULB claims by the citizens are validated by third-party assessors. Such certifications as ODF++, Water+, and Garbage-Free City (GFC) are considered. These certifications are national standards that are verified by third parties and are required to be ranked among the top and cities cannot be ranked in the top 100 without ODF++.
The last field assessment is phase 4. Assessors also pay a visit to residential, commercial, slum, school, and tourist facilities with the help of trained assessors who visit public toilets, vendor areas, and transport hubs. They observe hygiene and infrastructure first hand, gather feedback on citizens, and authenticate such pointers as visual hygiene, the well-being of sanitation workers, IEC operations, and innovations.
Certifications have 2,500 points and those cities that perform excellently in thematic sections are not always given top ranks despite their lack of certifications.
What are These Certifications?
ODF (Open Defecation Free) status needs 100 per cent access to toilets, work toilets with water and light, open defecation fines, uploaded geo-tagged photos in the SBM portal and mayoral, councillor, student and self-help group declarations.
ODF+ guarantees water-hygienic toilet rooms that are well-ventilated, mobile event units, and aspirational ratings.
ODF++ introduces faecal cleaning and mechanised cleaning that are safe.
Water+ states that there should be safe collection, treatment, reuse, and no contamination of water bodies with wastewater.
GFC star ratings (1 -7) require door-to-door collection of waste, source separation, scientific treatments, clean streets and third-party auditing.
These certifications are not merely badges but they are signs of structural change.
In order to complete the objectives of Swachh Survekshan which is a clean society for all, we must examine and operate the systems of ULBs and other systems with sharp eyes. Empowering local leaders to be one, motivating society with incentives to achieve digitisation and tracking waste in all its life cycles, all steps should be taken to enhance sustainability, uplift, and inclusion.
We should think about the use and safety of informal workers, enhance feedback and MIS systems, and redressal of grievances. Being open to innovative ideas, possessing well-defined systems of protocol and training modules and a culture of accountability and pride are some of the best practices. They are also mandatory.
Policy consultations, reviews and decision-making processes should involve sanitation workers, the main pillars of city cleanliness in every city. Their firsthand experiences and knowledge are crucial in the development of effective and inclusive urban sanitation plans.
Programs such as Swachhata Pakhwada and Shramdaan are nationwide efforts to mobilise energies, but permanent transformation is achieved by inculcating a culture of cleanliness. It depends on shared responsibility, collective care and conscious involvement of all citizens.
A clean city is not eventually about rankings. Cleanliness should be one of the pillars of city resilience as cities continue to develop. The SBM has provided the groundwork. Now, it is time for each citizen, policymaker and institution to add on to it, one brick at a time, one habit at a time.
Saumya Singh is an Assistant Professor in Ecosystem & Environment area at Indian Institute of Forest Management Bhopal, India.
Gojesh Konsam, Jui Gusani and Aditi Agrawal are postgraduate students at Indian Institute of Forest Management in Bhopal.
Views expressed are the authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth