Khattar launches Swachh Shehar Jodi programme to boost urban sanitation

The launch event in Sonipat witnessed the simultaneous signing of MoUs between mentor and mentee cities nationwide.

Union housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday launched the Swachh Shehar Jodi (SSJ) programme under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U), describing it as a “non-ceremonial, outcome-driven initiative ensuring that no city is left behind in sanitation metrics”.

Union minister for housing and urban affairs Manohar Lal Khattar at the Swachh Shehar Jodi programme on Saturday. (Photo from X)

The launch event in Sonipat witnessed the simultaneous signing of memorandums of understanding (MoUs) between mentor and mentee cities nationwide. As of Saturday, 21 states and 57 mentor cities have joined to guide a total of 163 mentee cities.

Among the pairings, Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh will guide Chintalapudi, Akiveedu, and Narasapur, while in Gujarat, Ahmedabad mentors Sanand and Wankaner, and Surat supports Mandvi and Palitana. In Odisha, Bhubaneswar mentors Kendrapara and Debagarh, and Chandigarh serves as mentor to Panchkula.

SSJ is a structured mentorship and collaborative action programme designed to enable knowledge transfer, peer learning, and replication of best practices in waste management and urban cleanliness, the government said in a statement. Seventy-two top-performing mentor cities, identified on the basis of their Swachh Survekshan rankings, have been paired with about 200 lower-ranked mentee cities.

MoHUA had laid the framework for the initiative on 26 August 2025, issuing guidelines formalising the mentor-mentee pairings. Under a 100-day pilot phase, each pair will jointly prepare action plans with specific milestones to address urban waste management challenges. The programme’s effectiveness will be monitored and evaluated during the Swachh Survekshan 2026 rankings, officials said.

The SSJ programme will focus on eight key areas: visible cleanliness, waste segregation and transport, scientific processing of waste, access to sanitation, used water management, mechanised desludging, citizen advocacy, and grievance redressal.