GUWAHATI: Guwahati has been selected among 50 cities across 24 states under the Centre’s newly launched PRAGATI-50 initiative aimed at improving urban cleanliness and sanitation.
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Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal launched the initiative in New Delhi on Tuesday, September 29.
“Launched 'Pragati50 ', a landmark initiative to develop a Model City Framework covering 50 cities of economic, cultural, heritage, pilgrimage, tourism, and administrative significance. These cities will serve as demonstration cities, with @MoHUA_India providing close monitoring and support to achieve excellence across the entire cleanliness value chain,” Union Minister said in a post on x
The initiative, under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, will focus on improving visible cleanliness, solid waste management, used water management, sanitation and citizen participation in the selected cities.
According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the 50 cities will be monitored through a KPI-based framework and technology-enabled review mechanism.
Manohar Lal said the selected cities would be developed as “clean role-model cities” by going beyond routine sanitation work and demonstrating sustained improvements in cleanliness.
“Our focus remains clear: stronger innovation, greater citizen participation, and measurable outcomes on the ground,” Minister wrote
The minister will personally chair review meetings every two months to track the progress of the cities.
The initiative also includes a digital review mechanism on the Swachhatam Portal, with officers from the ministry assigned to specific cities for regular supervision and handholding.
Alongside PRAGATI-50, the Centre also launched a Swachh Bharat Test Bed and Innovation Centre in collaboration with CSIR-CMERI, onboarded the third cohort of 13 Swachhata startups with IIT Kanpur, and launched a dedicated WhatsApp channel for citizens to register sanitation-related complaints.
