Tarakeswar municipality in West Bengal has won a national award under Swachh Survekshan 2025-26, earning recognition for cleanliness, citizen awareness and urban service delivery under the Swachh Bharat Mission. The award will be presented at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on November 11.
The recognition places the historic municipality among the urban local bodies acknowledged in the latest national cleanliness assessment. The source report did not specify Tarakeswar’s ranking, award category or the score recorded during the assessment.
Urban development and municipal affairs minister Agnimitra Paul congratulated Tarakeswar in social media posts. She said West Bengal had not participated in the annual Swachh Survekshan for 10 years and alleged that the survey had not been allowed to take place in the state’s cities during that period.
The Swachh Survekshan evaluates cities against more than 150 cleanliness and urban sanitation parameters. The assessment covers areas including cleanliness, citizen awareness and the delivery of municipal services, according to the report.
Paul said the state’s new government had ensured that cities could participate in the survey this year. She added that corrective measures had been taken over the previous few months and that most cities in the state were assessed before Tarakeswar received the national recognition.
The award comes as the state government promotes a broader cleanliness campaign focused on daily municipal operations. Paul has advocated twice-daily sweeping of streets and segregation of waste at source, two measures that place emphasis on routine service delivery as well as public participation.
The source report did not provide details of Tarakeswar’s waste collection system, processing facilities, sanitation workforce, door-to-door collection coverage or the specific interventions that helped it meet the assessment parameters. It also did not state whether the municipality received recognition in an individual municipal category or as part of a broader classification.
The state has also launched the ‘Swachh’ app for technology-driven monitoring of urban sanitation, public reporting and civic service delivery. The platform is intended to support monitoring and allow residents to report issues related to civic services, although the report did not provide data on the app’s usage, response times or outcomes.
For Tarakeswar, the national award provides official recognition ahead of the November 11 felicitation in New Delhi. The presentation will mark the formal conclusion of the current Swachh Survekshan recognition process for the municipality, while further details of its assessment and performance remain to be disclosed.
