Swachh Survekshan: MCC targets 5 lakh citizens' feedback

With the city missing the top rank in Swachh Survekshan in 2019 and 2020 due to poor citizens’ feedback, the civic body has taken all efforts to get more feedback from the citizens this year. The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has set a target of five lakh feedbacks and has already achieved three lakh.

Swachh Survekshan 2021 is conducted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), covering all cities across India between January 1 and March 31. One important component of Swachh Survekshan is getting residents’ feedback on the progress made by the civic body in maintaining cleanliness within the city and neighbourhood.

In 2020 survey, the city lost marks due to poor feedback and it affected the ranking. While Indore, which was the ‘Cleanest City’, secured 1,416 marks, Mysuru secured only 1,181 marks.

However, the challenge before the civic body is time as the citizens have to give their feedback by the end of March. The process of feedback commenced on January 1 and it will conclude by March 31.

“We have targeted to get feedback from 5 lakh people and more than 3.3 lakh people have participated in the survey. Mysuru will definitely come on top if more citizens participate in the survey. We will be one among the top three if the participants are more,” said MCC Commissioner C T Shilpa Nag.

Nag said, "The authorities concerned are making all the efforts to bring Mysuru on top and is being supported by the people. I humbly request the people to give the feedback sooner. Third party survey is completed. The compliances and documents have been sent and the lines for citizens’ feedback will be opened till March 31."

Citizen’s feedback plays a major role this time as the weightage has been increased. Besides, the survey will be held only in three categories as Direct Observation is merged in Citizen’s Voice and Service Level Progress.

This year, the survey will be conducted under three categories, while it was held under four categories last year - Citizen’s Feedback, Direct Observation, Service Level Progress and certification. To avoid duplication, Direct Observation is merged in Citizen’s Voice and Service Level Progress in 2021 survey.

In 2020, 25% marks were allotted to each category. But, this time, 30% marks is reserved for citizens’ voice, 40% for Service Level Progress and 30% marks for Certification. It has to be noted that the MCC has already warned of stringent action against people defacing the city by displaying posters, banners, and buntings illegally. In addition, the authorities also conducted drives against unscientific disposal of waste. The MCC officials have imposed fine against mobile shopkeepers for unscientific disposal of waste.