CM launches cleanliness campaign, best wards to get up to Rs 1 crore monthly
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Monday launched the “Delhi Ko Kude Se Azadi, Swachhta Abhiyan 2026” at Kedarnath Sahni Auditorium, announcing a ward-level cleanliness competition.
In the competition, the best-performing ward each month will receive Rs 1 crore, with top performers eligible for up to Rs 12 crore in incentives over a year.
The campaign, which will run till October 2, 2026, aims to strengthen the city’s sanitation system, promote scientific waste management and encourage public participation in cleanliness efforts.
A campaign brochure was released at the launch, attended by Union Minister of State and Delhi BJP president Harsh Malhotra, Urban Development Minister Ashish Sood, Mayor Pravesh Wahi and Chief Whip Abhay Verma.
The Chief Minister announced that a cleanliness competition will run at the ward level for 12 months.
The cleanest ward each month will receive Rs 1 crore, and wards that continue performing well in subsequent months could receive an additional Rs 2 crore, potentially totalling Rs 12 crore in CMDF funds over the year.
She said ward performance would be assessed through reports from an independent agency, official submissions and public complaints, including those made on social media.
The Chief Minister warned that any ward found with garbage complaints could be disqualified from the competition.
The Chief Minister said cleanliness was a shared responsibility rather than the task of any single department, and that the campaign aimed to bring together Government departments, local bodies, RWAs, market associations, schools, industries and citizens.
The Chief Minister outlined a focus on four elements of waste management: collection, cleaning, conversion, and the circular economy, calling for waste segregation at the source, proper collection, scientific processing, and swift action wherever dirt accumulates.
The Chief Minister announced a series of scheduled activities under the campaign. Special drives in slum clusters will be held on August 23, 30, and September 6 and 13.
Public toilets will receive focused cleaning every Saturday and Sunday. A campaign to clear green waste from parks will run from September 1 to 10. Government hospitals will see special cleanliness drives on September 17.
From September 17 to October 2, the “Mera School, Sabse Sundar” competition will focus on school upkeep alongside a zero-waste campus initiative.
She said 70 mechanical sweeping machines, additional litter picker vehicles per ward and 125 secondary collection centres for construction and demolition waste are being developed.
Malhotra said the campaign sought to make cleanliness part of people’s everyday thinking and behaviour, drawing a comparison to Mahatma Gandhi’s association of cleanliness with the freedom movement and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat call.
He said the Delhi Government had strengthened the Municipal Corporation financially, enabling faster sanitation work.
Sood said the campaign was about changing citizens’ habits and approach toward cleanliness, not just cleaning roads.
