span lang="EN-GB">Swacch Survekshan is an annual survey of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation in cities and towns across India. Which organisation makes the assessment?

Solution

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 by October 2, 2019. The first survey, which was undertaken in 2016, covered 73 cities; by 2021, in its sixth edition, the survey was grown to cover 4320 cities and was said to be the largest cleanliness survey in the world. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) conducted the sixth edition of the survey to rank all cities under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) with Quality Council of India (QCI) as its implementation partner in a bid to scale up the coverage of the ranking exercise and encourage towns and cities to actively implement mission initiatives in a timely and innovative manner.