Swachh Mahotsav 2019

News:Swachh Mahotsav 2019 was held at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi.

Facts:

About Swachh Mahotsav 

• Swachh Mahotsav was organised by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti. 
• On this occasion, President of India presented the Swachh Bharat Awards in various categories.

About Swachh Bharat Awards 2019

• Best Swachh Iconic Place was awarded to Vaishno Devi Shrine Board in Jammu and Kashmir and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST), Mumbai.
• Swachh Award in Swachhta Action Plan category was awarded to the Ministry of Railways.
• Award for Open Defecation Free(ODF) and Behavior Change were given to Gujarat and Sikkim.

Additional information:

About Swachh Iconic Places(SIP):

• The Swachh Iconic Places is an initiative under the Swachh Bharat Mission.It is a special clean-up initiative focused on select iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places in the country.
• The initiative is being coordinated by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in association with the Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Tourism and the concerned State governments.
• The Swachh Iconic Place award is given on the basis of (a)action plan accomplishment (b)participation of stakeholders (c)funds leveraged and utilised (d)evidence of difference and (e)cleanliness in the surrounding areas.

About Swachhta Action Plan(SAP):

• SAP was launched in 2017 with the active participation of 72 Ministries and Departments. 
• It is one of the flagship initiatives of the Prime Minister towards making Swachh Bharat everyone’s business.
• It aims at engaging all wings of the Government in the Swachh Bharat Mission programme.

About Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

• Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is a cleanliness campaign initiated by Govt. of India in 2014.It seeks to achieve a Clean India by 2019 as a tribute to the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• It has two sub-missions.Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

Swachh Bharat Mission(Gramin)

• Swachh Bharat Mission(Gramin)  aims to improve the levels of cleanliness in rural areas through Solid and Liquid Waste Management activities and making villages Open Defecation Free (ODF) and clean. 
• It is implemented by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Jal Shakti Ministry.

Swachh Bharat Mission(Urban)

• Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) aims at elimination of open defecation, conversion of unsanitary toilets to pour flush toilets, eradication of manual scavenging, municipal solid waste management and bringing about a behavioural change in people regarding healthy sanitation practices. 
• It is implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.