For the 5th consecutive year, Indore has been awarded with the title of India’s Cleanest City in the 6th edition of Swachh Survekshan 2021 for its performance in maintaining cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation. The cleanest state award went to Chhattisgarh in the third consecutive year.
Swachh Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India. It was launched as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, which aimed to make India clean and free of open defecation. The first survey was undertaken in 2016 and covered 73 cities. By 2020 the survey had grown to cover 4242 cities and was said to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world. In 2021 Survekshan the number of cities participation increased to 4,320 cities. In addition to this, the survey also saw an unprecedented number of citizens’ feedback – over 5 crores, as compared to 1.87 cores last year.
IIM Indore Branding the City’s Cleanliness Model
The state of Madhya Pradesh has been actively working towards keeping its cities clean and hygienic. The efforts are being made by various entities including the government, companies as well as citizens. In the last financial year, total CSR expenditure on Swachh Bharat Kosh was over Rs. 9 crores.
With an aim to help maintain its spot and to promote cleanliness practices across the globe, the Indian Institute of Management in Indore has taken up an initiative to introduce the world to Indore’s cleanliness model. In an agreement between IIM-Indore and IMC, the management institute has been tasked to increase the functionality, capacity and public utility of the civic body, furthering the identity of brand Indore in India and the world. IIM-Indore will devise a strategy with modern expertise to induct smart city development with local administration.
Boosting the smart city development in the city, in sync with its ‘swachh’ identity in the world, Indore has set its target to develop the functionality of local authorities under the guidance of IIM. An MoU signed by the Municipal Corporation Commissioner and the Director of IIM, the agencies will have to cooperate to execute two major facets; building onto the identity of Indore and increasing the working and functioning capacity of the IMC. As per the agreement, both signatories will have to share managerial and technological ideas to bring about this development with ease.
Through the collaboration, the Smart City Development in Indore will be brought about by workshops, research programs, seminars etc. Global case studies will be reviewed and executed through these, to implement IT experiments to ease and digitise the functioning of the Indore Municipal Corporation. Besides bringing about these developments, in cooperation, IIM will also be tasked with the economic utilisation and allocation of resources to design management schemes. This will bring about a streamlined and systematic growth and development in Indore.
