MAHUD Minister announces monetary aid to towns
Media sensitised on Swachh Survekshan 2018
Source: The Sangai Express / DIPR

Imphal, December 27 2017: A one day media sensitization workshop was held on 'Swachh Survekshan 2018' at the City Convention Centre, Palace Compound today under the aegis of the Directorate of Information & Public Relations (DIPR) and Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development (MAHUD).

Swachh Survekshan (cleanliness inspection) is a survey conducted to rank cities on various sanitation and cleanliness parameters.

Minister of MAHUD Thounaojam Shyamkumar, speaking as the chief guest of the function appealed to media persons to spread awareness about the survey so that the State can attain top rank.

Stating that media has a major role in spreading awareness among the masses, Shyamkumar said he is optimistic that the State will be able to get top rank this time.

The MAHUD Minister also announced that for the upcoming competition/survey, his department will give an assistance of Rs 1 lakh each to all the towns under Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats (urban and local bodies) to help keep their respective towns clean.

He also announced Rs 1.5 lakh to those towns that are able to get the 'open defecation free' status.

In his presidential speech, Meghachandra Kongbam, Director, DIPR said his department is ready to help all the State Government departments including MAHUD Department in creating mass awareness regarding various schemes/programmes.

Stating that cleanliness is a part of 'our age old tradition', he exuded that with the help of media and the public, the State will get a good ranking in the 'Swachh Survekshan 2018' .

N Gitkumar Singh, Director, MAHUD in his welcome address stated that 27 towns of the State including Imphal are competing in the 'Swachh Survekshan 2018' .

He said MAHUD Department focuses on urban areas targeting open defecation free status and scientific elimination of municipal solid waste.

Stating that all Municipal areas are organising series of awareness programme for the 'Swachh Survekshan 2018', he stressed on the need for creating mass awareness by the concerned authorities and media persons among the public.

Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), formerly Ministry of Urban Development, had conducted Swachh Survekshan 2016 among 73 top cities of India followed by Swachh Survekshan 2017 covering 434 cities.

MoHUA now proposes to conduct its third survey 'Swachh Survekshan 2018' to rank all 4,041 statutory towns of India (competition among 500 AMRUT cities) under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U).

The survey will be conducted any time by a third party within 4th January 2018 to 31st March 2018.Swachh Survekshan is a part of the Swachh Bharat Mission started on October 2, 2014.India has pledged to become open defecation free and clean by October 2, 2019.as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary.

A total of 27 towns of Manipur will participate in the third survey 'Swachh Survekshan 2018' against 4,041 statutory towns of India.

Manipur was ranked 15th position among other cities of India and topped among the North East during the first survey held in 2016.The ranking slipped to 122th position in comparison to other cities of India and the State slipped to 3rd position among North East during 2017 survey.

There is an addition related to the survey this time, citizens can use mobile application Swachhata App to instantly lodge a complaint by uploading a picture of littered areas which can be viewed immediately by the officials.

After cleaning the specific location, the status report will be available on the Swachhata App.

The app can be downloaded from Google Play Store till 31 st December 2017 .

The usage of this app will also help the State in securing marks in the survey, Gitkumar said.

Uttam Singh, Joint Director, MAHUD appreciated Minister Th Shyamkumar for announcing monetary assistance for Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats and hoped that it would encourage public participation.

Minister Th.Shyamkumar also handed over cheques to the winners of the cleanliness competition held under the 'Mission Imphal-Keibul' organised by the MAHUD Department from November 19 to December 2 this year during the Manipur Sangai Festival 2017.The winner of the competition Kumbi Municipal Council received Rs 80,000, second ranked Nambol Municipal Council received Rs 50,000 and third ranked Moirang Municipal Council received Rs 30,000.Consolation prizes of Rs 10,000 each were also handed over to Bishnupur Municipal Council, Ningthoukhong Municipal Council and Oinam Municipal Council.

A compact disk (CD) of 'Swachh Survekshan 2018' song was also released at the function.

During the second session N Gitkumar Singh and N Uttam Singh presented the details of the survey which was followed by media interaction.

Comment