Airports and railway stations to be graded

In the run-up to one year of the Swachh Bharat initiative, the government is planning to grade railway stations, airports, shipyards, hospitals, schools, colleges and tourist destinations based on the degree of sanitation. Such a ranking would motivate higher levels of sanitation in the country, according to a statement by the urban development ministry.

Plans are also being firmed up to carry out theme-based sanitation campaigns in the months to come, with a focus on transportation, agriculture, tourism, heritage, education, hospitals, and government buildings, among others.

Eight ministers and 12 secretaries across departments at the Centre met on Wednesday on how to re-energise the Swachh Bharat mission. A decision has been taken on a campaign to be taken up at different levels till March next year. The mission will complete one year on October 2.

Urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who chaired the meeting, said the mission needs to be converted into a Jan Andolan, as desired by prime minister Narendra Modi. Other ministers in the meeting were Manohar Parrikar (defence), Ashok Gajapathi Raju (civil aviation), J P Nadda (environment), Prakash Javadekar (environment), Mahesh Sharma (tourism), Sanjiv Balyan (agriculture), and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (information and broadcasting).

Among others, an official from the prime minister’s office said separate sanitation strategies must be adopted for rural and urban areas.

Javadekar said the environment ministry would soon come out with final notifications in respect of management of solid waste, e-waste, and bio-medical waste.