Swachh Bharat survey 2018: Negative marks for false claims under new rules

Rules and weightages for the survey were changed by the govt on Monday

A revised methodology, including a penalty clause for false claims, will be used to rank the 4,041 cities and towns in the country under the Modi government's third cleanliness survey — 'Swachh Survekshan-2018'. The government on Monday revised the methodology for the survey, which will be held in February 2018, according to agency reports.

The cities will be ranked based on 71 sanitation-related parameters, which have been assigned different weightages, according to reports. The cumulative marks will be 4,000, while the 2017 survey awarded scores out of a total of 2,000 marks.

Negative marking introduced

According to the Hindustan Times, the previous method suffered from an over-reliance on self-declaration by municipalities. It also lacked any provision for action against false claims by local civic bodies. The new methodology appears to address such shortcomings. 

As reported earlier, a negative marking clause has been introduced this time to ensure that cities do not make false claims about improvement in their sanitation infrastructure. If the claims of a city government about any parameter are found to be incorrect by independent assessors, it will get zero marks for that parameter. Also, it will face punitive action in the form of 33 per cent negative marking on the total marks obtained. 

Also, the channels through which feedback will be collected have also been expanded. Speaking to HT, a government official in the know said that aside from social media, digital apps, and phone calls, feedback will also be gathered through focused group discussions and face-to-face interactions. "This will ensure that there is no manipulation,” the senior government official told the national daily. 

Weightages changed

Agency reports cited Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra to highlight the changes in assessment weightages. Mishra said that the weightage for 'citizen feedback' has been increased to 35 per cent in the 2018 survey from 30 per cent in the last one.

Similarly, the weightage for 'direct observation' has also been increased to 30 per cent from 25 per cent in the previous survey. While the weightage for 'service level progress' has been reduced from 45 per cent to 35 per cent, the weightage for the 'processing and disposal' component has been increased from 20 per cent to 25 per cent.

The weightage for the 'open-defecation free' component remains unchanged at 30 per cent, while the weightages for the 'information, education and communication (IEC)' and 'capacity-building' components remain the same at five per cent each.

The weightage for the 'collection and transportation' component has been reduced from 40 per cent to 30 per cent.

Last but not the least, a new element of 'innovation' has been introduced with a weightage of five per cent to encourage cities to take up innovative sanitation practices and solutions. 

Expansion in scope

Further, as reported earlier, the 2018 survey is the first such pan-India exercise and is the largest in the world. According to HT, the 2018 survey will cover 400 million people. 

The cleanliness survey was launched in 2016 as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Under the first survey, the 'Swachh Survekshan-2016', 73 cities with a population of over 1 million people and all the state capitals were ranked. Mysuru had topped the list.

In the 2017 survey, 434 cities with a population of over 100,000 people and all the state capitals were ranked. Indore had emerged as the cleanest city in that list.