MoHUA signed an MOU with UNDP, for strengthening collection, segregation, recovery, and recycling of all kinds of non-biodegradable waste, and integrated plastic waste management, marking a significant development in the mission's mandate of collaboration. Within the first year, and aligned to India’s 75th anniversary celebrations, UNDP will be setting up 75 smart Swachhata Kendras across the country, working with local partners and urban local bodies.
Some key focus areas in their model will comprise (i) integrating informal waste pickers and linking them to various government welfare schemes, and (ii) intense focus on digital enablements such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to streamline the activities in the Swachhata Kendras. Parallely, UNDP will also work to build capacities of various stakeholders in integrated plastic waste management, including R&D and innovations.
Over the last 7 years, the Urban landscape of India has been undergoing steady transformations, especially with regards to overall cleanliness, thanks to the achievements made under the overall ambit of Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U). Of the many enabling factors that contributed to the success of SBM-Urban, a key factor was the help and support that was received from the numerous sector partners and knowledge partners.
1st October 2021 was a momentous day for SBM-U when Hon’ble Prime Minister launched SBM-Urban 2.0 with the overall aim of achieving “Garbage Free Cities”. Subsequently, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the Operational Guidelines for SBM-U 2.0 on 27th October 2021, following multiple rounds of discussions with all relevant stakeholders, including our development sector partners.
Given the far larger scope of work and envisioned impact from SBM-U 2.0, it will require every stakeholder to join hands and collectively work for the Mission mandates, without which it would be difficult for us to achieve the ultimate goal of creating garbage-free cities. In fact, given this need, one of the guiding principles of the SBM-U 2.0 operational guidelines is 'collaboration and partnerships'.