The Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar conferred Swachhata Ranking Awards 2018 for higher educational institutions in Delhi recently. 

Best 51 higher educational institutions have been selected for Swachhata Ranking Awards in 8 different categories.

Speaking on the occasion, Prakash Javadekar said that cleanliness must be a habit in students and it can be developed only in educational institutions, therefore Ministry is promoting and rewarding cleanliness efforts of educational institutions.

He further said that clean India is the foundation of healthy India; Swasth Bharat cannot become reality without Swachh Bharat and government is committed to making it possible.

Prakash Javadekar remembered Mahatma Gandhi on this occasion and said that he was the real brand ambassador of cleanliness and he educated people towards cleanliness by all his efforts.

 He said that we must give our tribute to Mahatma Gandhi by making our country a clean country.

He informed that 9 Crore toilets have been made and 4.80 lakh villages have been announced as Open Defecation Free (ODF) in short span of 4 years which is a remarkable achievement for the nation under Swachh Bharat Mission.

The Union Minister emphasized that we should educate our children and society about solid waste management, electric waste management, and water harvesting techniques so that they can make our country more eco-friendly and clean.

He said that due to Swachhata Ranking Awards our educational campuses are becoming clean now we take them to further, from clean campus to green campus.

The Union Minister also released two books during the event
1. Elective Course Curriculum on Swachhata and Waste Management
2. Booklet on 60 HEIs campus and Village Swachhata Activities.  He congratulated MGNCRE for launching a sanitation course on Swachhata Management in the curriculum.
Union Minister of State for HRD, DR Satya Pal Singh said that the cleanliness is the real meaning of education and we must adopt it. He emphasized internal cleanliness as well as outer cleanliness to become a good human being. He said that the basic aim of education must be to make a complete human being. Cleanliness is such a sacred thing which must be followed like one follows a religion, he added.

Secretary, Higher Education, R. Subrahmanyam, Chairman UGC, D P Singh, and Chairman AICTE, Anil Sahasrabudhe were also present along with other officials during the event.

This year online submission of details sought from HEIs, 6029 institutions applied, 205 institutions shortlisted based on cut-off. AICTE & UGC inspected all 205 institutions. Best 51 institutions selected in 8 categories:
- Universities (Residential & Non-Residential)
- Colleges (Residential & Non-Residential)
- Technical Institutions (Universities – Residential)
- Technical Colleges (Residential & Non-Residential)
- Government Universities

Salient features of Swachhata Ranking Awards–
1. The Swachhata Rankings exercise has been initiated by Department of Higher Education to generate healthy peer pressure among higher educational institutions for keeping and maintaining hygienic campuses so that the environment for student learning becomes clean and leads to higher thinking.

2. Department has recognized that educational institutions should play the lead role in not only their in-campus hygiene but also by adopting villages around their area for promoting hygiene through awareness creation and other assistance.

3. This year’s rankings have received more than double the response from educational institutions compared to last year. More than 6000 institutions have participated. The parameters have been made more scientific to include aspects like rainwater harvesting, solar power, quality of hostel kitchen apparatus, water supply system quality, maintenance method sophistication etc.

4. This year’s Rankings have brought out some very significant and interesting features of our higher educational institutions in the area of Swachhataand the way they are managing their campus environment.

For the 6029 institutions that applied, some of the highlights are:
i) 2430 institutions have solar power in their campus and 940 more are under progress. This is nearly 56% solar coverage
ii) 3577 institutions have rainwater harvesting facility – this is nearly 60% coverage
iii) 5607 institutions out of 6000 have 24 hours running water. This is a 93% coverage
iv) 3915 campuses have more than 30% green cover and this is 65% of the institutions. Some leading institutions have also up to 60% green cover.
v) 2557 institutions have a full composting facility in their campuses and this is 42% of them.

5. Higher Educational Institutions have to also spread the message of Swachhata in villages and other neighborhoods since they are knowledge institutions and knowledge is meant to be shared. Village activity has been made a parameter with 10% weight.  Any institution that wants to be considered for rankings has to necessarily adopt a village or some villages and carry out hygiene & health-related activities in it.

6. From the data submitted, it has been observed that after the activities & interventions of our institutions this year, 2110 nos. of villages have been made Open Defecation Free (ODF). In another 2100 institutions, ODF work is in progress. Further, in 2016 villages, systems for sustainable waste management have been installed. The list of villages and institutions working on them has been printed.  Swachhata in our Department and institutions is not a symbolic event but a year-long, continuous process of engagement and improvement of both campuses and villages. Educational institutions are playing an internal & social role in hygiene that is tangible and can be seen.

7. From this year onwards, HRD Ministry would be developing careers in Waste & Environment Management by introducing an elective course in the subject and also a PG Diploma in Waste Management that includes an internship. These two courses will be introduced from the January semester onwards. So a complete job oriented approach to Swachhata is on the anvil.

8. MHRD is committed to taking this Mission Swachhata to encompass every educational institution and encourage them to undertake not only campus cleanliness but also village cleanliness and contribute to a clean & pure thinking India.