It is a proud moment for Punjab that in the All India Swachh Surveshkan 2018 results of 4203 Indian cities; Punjab has emerged as number 1 state in the North Zone. The Swachh Survekhshan -2018 results were released yesterday by the Prime minister in Indore. The National level rank for Punjab has also improved and it is ranked 9th, much ahead of Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu , Karnataka, Kerala , Uttarakhand and many other states. Not only this but 42 cities from Punjab figure in first 100 in North Zone city ranking comprising 1008 cities which indicates the changing perception and attitude towards sanitation and cleanliness.The Local Government Minister, Punjab, Navjot Singh Sidhu has congratulated Mr. A. Venu Prasad, Principal Secretary Local Government , Mission Director Swachh Bharat Mission Mr. Ajoy Sharma and the entire Swachhta team of the state. He has further congratulated the residents of Punjab for achieving remarkable progress in keeping cities clean and attaining high standards of sanitation. Out of the total 4 Zonal award categories, two cities of Punjab namely Bhadson and Moonak have bagged cleanest city and best city in citizen feedback award respectively in North India zone in Swachh Survekshan 2018 results and received the awards at the Swachh Survekshan-2018 award ceremony held in Indore.
The objectives of the Swachh Survekhshan are to encourage citizen participation, increase city capacities for sustainable ODF and sanitation measures. In 2017, Survekhshan was done in cities with population of more than one lakh. From Punjab 16 cities had participated last year. This year there has been a remarkable improvement in the rankings of most of these bigger cities. Whereas there were 7 cities of Punjab in last 100 rankings. This time only one city figures in last 100 out of total 485 bigger cities surveyed. In last Swachh Survekshan 2017, Mohali was the best performing city in Punjab ranked 121 among Indian cities. However, this year Mohali city progressed and ranked at 109 in SS-2018 as compared to Panchkula which ranks 142 in category of 1 lac or above population. The Principal Secretary Local Government Mr. A. Venu Prasad said that under the leadership of the Local Government Minister, Mr. Navjot Singh Sidhu, the whole Swachh Bharat Team of Punjab has worked really hard and turned the tide in Swachh Survekshan- 2018. He reiterated that Swachhta teams would continue to work hard and give priority to solid waste management and Waste to Wealth approach by adopting best practices from other progressive states in the field of sanitation.