Unity and Spirit of Antyodaya necessary to Clean Cities: Union Minister Manohar Lal
Haryana to Play Leading Role in Swachh Shehar Jodi Initiative, says CM
5 Dariya News
Sonipat 26-Sep-2025
Union Minister of Power and Housing and Urban Affairs, Sh. Manohar Lal said that the nation’s cities can be made clean and garbage-free only through unity and the spirit of Antyodaya. He said that Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi’s launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission in 2014 carried forward Mahatma Gandhi’s resolve.
Addressing the launch of the Swachh Shehar Jodi (SSJ) Initiative at the IIT Education City campus in Sonipat on Saturday, Sh. Manohar Lal said the programme aims to foster collaboration between cities to improve urban sanitation.
Chief Minister, Sh.Nayab Singh Saini, speaking on the occasion via video conference from Karnal, said Haryana will play a leading role in this initiative. Five municipal corporations each from Sonipat and Karnal have been paired under the programme. He thanked Union Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal for initiating this collaborative effort to make India’s cities cleaner.
Largest-ever city-twinning structure for urban waste management
The Union Minister of Power and Housing & Urban Affairs, Sh. Manohar Lal shared that under the SSJ initiative, 72 mentor cities and around 200 mentee cities have been paired. This is the largest city-twinning framework in the field of urban waste management to date.
Cities were selected based on the latest Swachh Survekshan survey, with high-performing cities designated as mentors and those requiring improvement as mentees. Pairings were made based on geographical proximity and performance gaps to ensure practical and relevant knowledge exchange, said Sh. Manohar Lal.
During the national programme, all participating cities signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs), with municipal officers and political representatives present, marking the occasion as historic.
Super Swachh League and structured mentorship to drive urban sanitation
Sh. Manohar Lal highlighted the Ministry’s Super Swachh League (SSL), established to recognize consistent performers in Swachh Survekshan 2022, 2023, and 2024. Top three cities in five population categories have been included in this league and will form the foundation of mentor cities, while mentee cities are drawn from lower-ranked states, ensuring a practical, peer-learning approach.
He added that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs issued official guidelines for the SSJ initiative on August 26, 2025, launching a 100-day action plan. During this period, each city pair will develop joint work plans with clear objectives and milestones, conduct site visits and experiential learning, share successes, address challenges, and lay the foundation for long-term capacity building. The initiative will be evaluated through Swachh Survekshan 2026.
City partnerships in Haryana set to lead collaborative urban governance
As part of the initiative, Karnal and Sonipat municipal corporations signed MoUs to mentor five smaller cities each. Karnal will guide Siwan, Ismailabad, Kalanwali, Narnaund, and Rajound municipalities, while Sonipat will support Pataudi, Farukhnagar, Kundli, Narnaul, and Hodal.
The launch in Sonipat marks the beginning of a new era of collaborative urban governance and inter-city mentoring.During the event, Sh. Manohar Lal also launched a cleanliness song written by Shailendra and sung by Amit Trivedi and Shreya Ghosal.
He also held discussions with Urban Local Bodies Ministers, Sh. Kailash Vijayvargiya (Madhya Pradesh) and Sh.Anil Kumar Sharma (Uttar Pradesh). MLA Rewari, Smt. Krishna Gahlawat, MLA Sonipat, Sh. Nikhil Madan, Mayor, Sh. Rajiv Jain, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development, Roopa Mishra and Commissioner & Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department, Sh. Vikas Gupta.