Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has launched Swachh Shehar Jodi (SSJ) initiative- a national mentorship and collaboration framework under the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U).
It connects 72 mentor cities with around 200 mentee cities to help improve their waste management and sanitation performance.
Key Objectives
- To help low-performing cities in improving cleanliness and waste management by learning from top-performing mentor cities.
- To replicate proven best practices in sanitation and solid waste management.
- To foster peer learning, knowledge sharing, and institutional collaboration among Indian cities.
Key Features of the SSJ Initiative
Largest Urban Mentorship Framework:
- Involves over 270 cities across India (mentor + mentee).
- One of the largest time-bound structured mentorship programs in India’s urban sector.
Basis of Selection:
- Mentor Cities:
- Top-performing cities from Swachh Survekshan (SS) 2022, 2023, and 2024.
- Super Swachh League (SSL) cities (Rank 1–3 across population categories).
- Promising clean cities from States/UTs under SS 2024.
- Mentee Cities:
- Cities with low ranks in State SS rankings.
- Selected based on geographical proximity to mentor cities.
Implementation Framework:
- MoUs signed between mentor and mentee cities during a national event at Sonipat, Haryana.
- 100-day program launched to create measurable impact in sanitation improvement.
- Each pair will develop joint action plans with defined milestones.
- Outcomes to be evaluated in Swachh Survekshan 2026.
Funding Support:
- Cities can use Capacity Building (CB) funds under SBM-U 2.0.
- States/UTs encouraged to provide additional funding if needed.
- Cities may also leverage CSR and partner organization funds.
Strategic Goals
- To achieve ‘Garbage-Free Cities (GFCs)’ through local innovations.
- To establish a continuous mentorship ecosystem beyond the 100-day phase.
- To improve citizen engagement, waste segregation, scientific waste processing, and decentralized composting at the city level.
Background
- The guidelines for SSJ were released by MoHUA on August 26, 2025.
- Around 300 MoUs were signed nationwide in the presence of municipal leaders.
- The program was conceptualized after several years of Swachh Survekshan rankings revealed consistent top-performing cities despite operational challenges.
- The Super Swachh League (SSL) concept was earlier introduced in Swachh Survekshan 2024 to motivate cities toward higher cleanliness benchmarks.
Significance
- Marks a shift from competition to collaboration in India’s cleanliness mission.
- Institutionalizes peer-to-peer learning in urban waste management.
- Supports capacity building of local urban bodies (ULBs).
- Helps achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 – “Sustainable Cities and Communities.”
Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U)
- Launched: October 2, 2014
- Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)
- Objective: To make urban India Open Defecation Free (ODF) and Garbage Free (GFC).
- SBM-U 2.0: Announced in October 2021 (for 2021–2026).
- Focus on scientific waste processing, plastic waste reduction, and bioremediation of legacy dumpsites.
- Mission target: Achieve 100% waste segregation, safe sanitation, and zero landfill cities.
Swachh Survekshan
- Started: 2016 under SBM-U.
- Conducted by: MoHUA with Quality Council of India (QCI) as the assessment partner.
- World’s largest urban sanitation survey covering all ULBs.
- Evaluates cities based on parameters like waste collection, citizen feedback, processing & disposal, and sanitation sustainability.
- The 2024 edition saw the introduction of the Super Swachh League (SSL).
About MoHUA
- Full Form: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
- Current Minister (as of 2025): Hardeep Singh Puri
- Established: 1952 (as Ministry of Works, Housing & Supply; later renamed)
- Major Schemes under MoHUA:
- Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U)
- AMRUT 2.0 (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation)
- Smart Cities Mission
- PMAY-Urban (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban)
- DAY-NULM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission)