Bengal refuses to participate in Swachh survey programme

The Swachh Survekshan was started in January this year

NEW DELHI: In a setback to government’s ‘Swachh Survekshan’ programme, the West Bengal government has directly refused to participate in the survey which is being held to encourage competition among states to improve sanitation standards.

The refusal has restricted the cleanliness survey to only 434 cities as the Centre had planned to survey the standards of cleanliness in 60 cities of the state, which included Kolkata, Asansol, Siliguri, Durgapur, etc.

"If Bengal participated then it would have secured ranks based on hygiene. Even if the state does not want to endorse the scheme, cleanliness is one of the best indicators of public health. When a city is cleaner, residents are healthier,” said a senior government official.

Also, the state has refused to take part in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship Smart City project.

The Swachh Survekshan, which was started in January this year, has been conducted by Quality Council of India. The mandatory survey is to judge cities on the basis of data provided by municipal bodies, data collected through direct observations and independent assessment and citizen feedbacks.

The areas of evaluations include waste collection, sweeping and transportation, open defecation free and toilets, municipal solid waste-processing and disposal, information, education, behaviour change and capacity building.