The Centre on Monday launched the Swachh Technology Challenge under SBM(U), which seeks to harness the entrepreneurial potential of the waste management sector in India and promote an enabling environment for enterprise development, a statement said.
The Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, in the statement, said in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's clarion call for an Atmanirbhar Bharat, there is a need for identifying indigenous, cost-effective technologies that are easy to replicate and scale-up.
It said such technologies can be put to use by urban local bodies to implement various components of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) 2.0 on the ground.
Over the years, SBM-U has been encouraging innovations and best practices particularly through Swachh Survekshan, the annual cleanliness survey conducted by the MoHUA, the ministry said.
This trend has been rising over the years with over 4,000 innovations and best practices having been identified since 2018.
According to the ministry, Swachh Technology Challenge, scheduled to run till January 15, 2022, will particularly seek solutions in four thematic categories -- social inclusion, zero dump (solid waste management), plastic waste management and transparency through digital enablement.
The details and modalities of the Challenge were elaborated in a presentation by Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary and National Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban, MoHUA, it said.
"Designed as a sub-component of the 'Citizen Engagement' component under Swachh Survekshan 2022, the Challenge endeavours to invite solutions not just from start-ups but also individual entrepreneurs, educational institutions, local businesses, research and development organisations, NGOs, and other citizen groups to help city administration efficiently manage Mission operations,” the statement said.
Speaking at the event, HUA Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said technology has played a key role in the transformation of the urban landscape of India.
It has the potential to bring about affordable, scalable and replicable innovations that can not only bring the Mission closer to citizens but also help us achieve our collective goal of Garbage Free Cities in a time-bound and efficient manner, he said.
"Today, with the launch of the Swachh Technology Challenge, I appeal to all states and cities to participate wholeheartedly in the Challenge by engaging proactively with stakeholders across the spectrum to drive sanitation and waste management outcomes under SBM-U 2.0," Mishra was quoted as saying at the event.
Meanwhile, the ministry also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) India to strengthen the waste management sector in India under the overall ambit of Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban 2.0.
The MoU, operational for a period of five years (2021-26), was signed by Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary and National Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) representing MoHUA, and Shoko Noda, Resident Representative, representing UNDP India, in the presence of HUA secretary, the ministry said.
Solid waste management has been a key focus of Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban since its launch in 2014.
The ministry, in a separate statement, said with concerted focus on source segregation and scientific processing of municipal solid waste, the waste processing capacity in India has gone up by nearly four times, from 18 percent in 2014 to 70 percent on date.
The MoU signed between MoHUA and UNDP India marks the beginning of a collaborative journey to strengthen collection, segregation, recovery and recycling of all kinds of non-biodegradable waste and integrated plastic waste management under SBM-U 2.0, it said.
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