Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday launched the Swachh Shehar Jodi (SSJ) programme in Sonipat under the ongoing Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U). The initiative has been designed as a structured mentorship model to fast-track India’s cleanliness and waste management efforts by linking strong-performing cities with those still catching up.
Khattar described SSJ as a “non-ceremonial, outcome-driven initiative”, stressing that the focus is on results and on-ground improvements rather than symbolic activities. “The aim is to ensure that no city is left behind in sanitation metrics and that best practices are shared widely,” he said during the launch.
The programme brings together 72 top-ranked cities identified from the Swachh Survekshan survey to serve as mentors to nearly 200 lower-ranked mentee cities. These partnerships are expected to encourage peer-to-peer learning, replication of successful waste management models, and joint problem-solving in areas like waste segregation, recycling, plastic waste reduction, and community participation.
During the Sonipat event, 21 states and 57 mentor cities signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with 163 mentee cities, marking the beginning of a pan-India network of city partnerships. Notable examples include Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) mentoring Chintalapudi, Akiveedu and Narasapur, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) guiding Sanand and Wankaner while Surat supports Mandvi and Palitana, Bhubaneswar (Odisha) mentoring Kendrapara and Debagarh, and Chandigarh guiding Panchkula.
Officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) highlighted that the SSJ programme will also serve as a capacity-building platform, where cities can exchange technical expertise, innovate locally suited solutions, and scale up cleanliness initiatives. The ministry expects this initiative to not only improve the rankings of mentee cities in upcoming Swachh Survekshan surveys, but also create a culture of collaboration and healthy competition among urban bodies.
The SSJ launch is being seen as a significant step forward in India’s urban sanitation journey, complementing earlier Swachh Bharat interventions. Experts believe the mentor-mentee model could accelerate progress toward achieving sustainable, liveable, and garbage-free cities in the coming years.
