Manipur gears up for Swachh Survekshan 2019, gets open defecation free status

DIPR
Imphal
Manipur is all geared up for the Swachh Survekshan 2019, the pan India cleanliness survey which will focus on citizen participation and sanitation sustainability as key factors for grading the cities. The Ministry of Housing, Urban and Af fairs (MoHUA), Government of India will be carrying out the fourth edition of the sanitation survey from 4th to 31st January , 2019. In order to spread awareness regarding the survey to the concerned stakeholders, Department of Municipal Administration, Housing and Urban Development (MAHUD), Government of Manipur organised a one-day workshop on Swachh Survekshan 2019 yesterday at the City Convention Centre, Palace Gate. MAHUD Minister Thounaojam Shyamkumar in his speech as the chief guest of the function announced that his department will give monetary assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to all the urban local bodies for the upcoming cleanliness survey . He said it is really a proud moment for the State to achieve an open defecation free (ODF) status. Assuring that the State Government is committed to strengthen the urban local bodies, Th. Shyamkumar said filling up of vacant posts/ required staffs and systematic functioning of the elected representatives/members will be put forward in the Cabinet meeting. Concluding his speech, he appealed the citizens of the State to wholeheartedly participate in the upcoming cleanliness survey to increase the S tate’ s ranking. N. Gitkumar Singh, State Mission Director , SBM (Urban), MAHUD Director and Chief Town Planner in his key note address informed that the regional workshop was scheduled for 12th September , 2018 (tomorrow) at Guwahati, Assam. A separate workshop has been organised for Imphal after requesting the authorities for maximum participation of people for the cleanliness survey , he added. As part of the function today , ODF certificates were distributed to the representatives of the urban local bodies. All the 27 urban local bodies (ULBs) of Manipur have received an open defecation free (ODFs) status. Manipur is now among the 18 states in the country to become an ODF certified state. Swachh Survekshan 2019 will be conducted under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM- U) for a total of 5,000 marks, compared to 4,000 marks in the previous survey . MoHUA has revised the weightage in each category namely – service level progress (SLP), direct observation, citizen feedback and certification. Certification category is a new addition, where emphasise will be given to open defecation free (ODF) status of the cities by a third party deputed by MoHUA to ensure on sustainability of the sanitation. This time, ODF plus and ODF plus plus guidelines are formed to make open defecation free status sustainable and ensuring behavioural change. While the ODF plus protocol focuses on sustaining community/pubic toilet usage by ensuring their functionality , cleanliness and maintenance, the SBM ODF plus plus will focus on achieving sanitation sustainability by addressing complete sanitation value chain, including safe containment, processing and disposal of faecal sludge and septage. Citizens can give their feedback on the web portal ‘Swachh Manch’ which was launched on August 13, 2018 with a motive for the citizens to connect and contribute to the overall cleanliness of their respective areas. The portal will enable to upload pictorial evidence of citizens and organizations participating in the initiatives, as well as to record the number of hours volunteered, as acknowledgement of citizens’/ organisations’ efforts and contributions to the cause of cleanliness. Apart from it, citizens can send their feedback at Swachhata App. Urban local bodies will have to update their monthly on-line MIS on SBM (U) portal, upload indicator wise supporting documents on Swachh Survekshan 2019 portal by 15th December , 2018 along with uploading City profile by 30th November , 2018 to ensure systematic reporting of facts which shall be validated during the survey . State and city levels campaigns are being promoted in order to educate citizens about the objectives of the survey and survey methodology as well as to make awareness regarding people’ s participation. The objective of the cleanliness survey is to encourage large scale citizen participation, ensure sustainability of initiatives taken towards garbage free and open defecation free cities, provide credible outcomes which would be validated by third party certification, institutionalize existing systems through online processes and create awareness amongst all sections of the society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in. Additionally , the survey also intends to foster a spirit of healthy competition among towns and cities to improve their service delivery to citizens, towards creating cleaner cities. This time everything will be done through online.