🎯 Schemes & WelfareMAINS · GS2.10 · GS3.14

Ahmedabad–Sanand top Swachh Shehar Jodi at Swachh Survekshan 2025-26

The Housing Ministry's full results note names Ahmedabad–Sanand, Indore–Depalpur and Tirupati–Kuppam as the top three mentor–mentee pairs, and lists 70 pairs from the peer-learning programme launched on 27 September 2025.

What happened

The Housing Ministry issued the results note for Swachh Survekshan 2025-26, the 10th edition, honoured by the President on 11 November 2026.
4,751 urban local bodies were assessed on 176 sub-indicators in 10 sections by 3,000-plus assessors, with GPS monitoring.
60 awards were given in 7 categories, including River Front, Coastal and Himalayan town categories.
Swachh Shehar Jodi paired 70 mentor cities with about 191 mentee cities; only each mentor's best pair counted.
Ahmedabad–Sanand ranked first, Indore–Depalpur second and Tirupati–Kuppam third on combined scores.

For Prelims

Swachh Survekshan: the annual urban cleanliness survey of the Housing Ministry under Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban; it grew from 73 urban local bodies in 2016 to 4,751 in 2025-26 (PRIDs 2334316, 2335207).
SBM-U 2.0: launched in October 2021, shifting the focus from access to outcomes (Economic Survey 2025-26; PRID 2313052).
Swachh Shehar Jodi: launched on 27 September 2025 as the first urban waste-management mentorship scheme, with a mentor-mentee MoU signed at Sonipat in September 2025.
Pairing base: 70 mentor cities were chosen from Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 rankings; about 191 mentee cities came from 33 States and UTs.
Winning Jodis: Ahmedabad (million-plus) with Sanand (20,000-50,000); Indore (million-plus) with Depalpur (under 20,000); Tirupati (50,000-3 lakh) with Kuppam (20,000-50,000).
Scoring: the top three Jodis were ranked on combined total scores of mentor and mentee, so a Jodi is judged on both partners; the same top three were first announced on 11 November (PRID 2335207).
Award structure: 60 national awards across 7 categories, including a Clean Himalayan City ranking and a State/UT First Swachh City award.
Assessment: more than 3,000 trained assessors, GPS-enabled monitoring and a digital evidence trail; the 9 November release (PRID 2334316) described 43 indicators in 10 areas.

For UPSC: Swachh Survekshan 2025-26 (10th edition): 4,751 ULBs; 60 awards. Swachh Shehar Jodi (27 September 2025; 70 mentors): Ahmedabad–Sanand, Indore–Depalpur, Tirupati–Kuppam top three.

What it is NOT: The release gives no scores, ranks or population-band results, so it cannot show the gap between winners and other pairs. It lists only the Jodi table, not the winners of the other six categories (the 11 November release, PRID 2335207, carried those). It does not reconcile its 176 sub-indicators and 7 categories with the 43 indicators and 5 categories reported on 9 and 11 November, or say what a mentee gained in cleanliness.

For Mains

Syllabus: GS2.10 · GS3.14 · Linkage L1

Anchor

Swachh Survekshan turns urban sanitation into a ranked contest. Swachh Shehar Jodi adds a second incentive: a top city is rewarded for lifting a weaker partner, not only for its own score.

Substantiation (data)

4,751 urban local bodies were assessed this year against 73 in 2016. Seventy mentor cities were paired with about 191 mentees from 33 States and UTs, and each mentor's best pair was ranked on combined scores.

Position

Pairing a million-plus city with a town of under 50,000 passes on practice that a small body may not afford to design alone. Scoring the pair together stops the mentor from gaining while the mentee stays behind.

Counterpoint

The release gives no scores, so progress cannot be checked. Only the best pair per mentor was ranked, one pair was set aside over the mentee list, and the indicator count differs from the 9 November figure.

Way forward

Publish pair-wise baselines and gains, rank mentees on improvement, record the constraints smaller bodies report, and move from awards to funding for what the winning pairs transferred.

Conclusion

A survey that began with 73 bodies now reaches 4,751, and the Jodi programme tries to spread that gain to smaller towns. Its test is whether mentee towns keep their gains once the awards are over.

Deploys into: Urban sanitation and solid-waste management under SBM-U 2.0 · Rankings and competitive federalism among cities · Peer learning and capacity building in local bodies · Cleanliness surveys and citizen feedback

Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs · 2026-11-13 · PRID 2336057 · PIB source ↗