Swachhta drive begins at 174 colleges

NEW DELHI: The Centre has shortlisted 174 colleges for the first ‘swachhta’ ranking of educational institutes.

This HRD ministry-driven initiative is the government’s bid to promote cleanliness in institutes of higher learning. These institutes, which were asked to participate in the ranking last month, will be gauged on the data they provide regarding overall cleanliness, hygiene, and sanitation facilities for students.

According to officials, the government had received applications from over 3,000 institutes, of which 174 were shortlisted. “We have started sending inspection teams from the UGC and the AICTE to conduct the rankings and this will be done by the end of the month,” an official said.

The top-ranking institutes will be awarded by the ministry on September 15, the official said. The inspection teams are expected to focus on basic hygiene in kitchens and toilets, student-toilet ratio at institutes, and innovative methods used to dispose garbage.

“The basic objective these rankings is to create peer pressure and awareness towards cleanliness,” the official said.