Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26: President Droupadi Murmu to Honour India’s Cleanest Cities

President of India, Droupadi Murmu, will present the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26 on 11 th November, 2026 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi. The 10th edition of Swachh Survekshan Awards recognises cities and States for their contribution to the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U). This evaluation includes over 4751 cities and places more emphasis on citizen engagement, cleanliness of water bodies, sanitation services and behavioural change.

Key Highlights of the Award

• Name of the Award: Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025-26
• Edition: 10th
• Date of Award Presentation: 11th November 2026
• Venue: Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi
• Chief Guest of the Event: President Droupadi Murmu
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
• Department Incharge: Department of Urban Development
• Theme: Swachhata Ki Nayi Pehel – Badhayein Haath, Karein Safai Saath
• Number of cities included: Over 4751 Evaluation
• Criteria: 43 indicators across 10 key areas.

What is Swachh Survekshan?

Swachh Survekshan (SS) is the flagship cleanliness evaluation undertaken under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban. This evaluates the performance of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in terms of sanitation and solid waste.

Since its inception in 2016, the number of cities evaluated has increased massively from 73 Urban Local Bodies to over 4751 cities in the 2025-26 edition. It drives cities to compete healthily and improve urban sanitation.

The awards for 2025-26 will reward cities and States for their outstanding achievements over the last decade.

Evaluation Criteria

Urban Local Bodies were evaluated across 10 core areas with 43 indicators in the 10th edition.

These include,

• Waste segregation
• Collection and disposal of waste.
• Solid Waste.
• Sanitation visibility.
• Sanitation access.
• Desludging mechanisation.
• Strengthening ecosystem and institutional parameters.
• Management of used water.
• Swachhata advocacy and behavioural change.
• Wellbeing of sanitation workers, citizen engagement and redressal.

The evaluation also focused on improving riverfronts, coastlines and water bodies, preventing open defecation and urination and improving cleanliness of tourist and heritage sites.

Over 3000 trained evaluators visited cities across the country. GPS tracking was implemented to improve transparency and provide evidence with a fully digital approach.

Swachh Shehar Jodi Initiative

The Swachh Shehar Jodi Initiative was launched by Union Minister Manohar Lal on 27 th September 2025. This is a mentorship programme that focuses on waste management in cities.

This links high-performing cities to cities wanting to improve their sanitation services.

• Mentor Cities: 70 Mentee Cities: 191 States/UTs: 33
• Launch Date: 27 th September 2025
• Launched By: Union Minister Manohar Lal
• Objective: Peer learning and improving urban waste management.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the mentor and Mentee Cities. The top-performing cities will be rewarded in the 2025-26 awards.

Improvement in Mentee City Performance

The cities have seen an improvement in several areas between the SS 2024 evaluation and the latest evaluation.

Parameter	SS 2024	Latest Edition
Sanitation Visibility	48%	70%
Door-to-door waste	52%	74%
Source Segregation	16%	30%
Sanitation Access	11%	38%
Used Water	32%	53%
Swachhata advocacy	48%	66%

This shows the cities have made improvements in waste collection, source segregation, sanitation access and awareness.

Why is this important?

Swachh Survekshan creates competition between Urban Local Bodies and drives cities to improve their sanitation and waste services. The evaluation criteria shows how important it is to engage citizens, be accountable and have strong institutions.

The Swachh Shehar Jodi initiative helps drive collaboration between cities and allows them to share solutions.