15 million users spread across 3200 cities: ‘Swachhata’, a collaboration between the Indian Ministry of Urban Affairs and a renowned NGO is focused on the bigger picture. Their service allows citizens to lodge public cleanliness complaints using their mobiles: Take a photo, choose a category, send it and track when the task is completed. Many programmes have failed to tackle India’s waste problem, but this app and online platform is becoming a national success story.

 

All state levels on the same page

Since 2001, the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy’s mission has included city governance reforms and civic participation. This NGO provides the technology behind Swachhata and the ministry takes charge of engaging cities and their local utility providers — who, in turn, address the complaints submitted by citizens.

 

State regulation harmonised with
citizen usability

More than 10,000 municipal engineers have been trained to use the app, and more than four million illegal rubbish dumps have been cleared in its first 18 months. Swachhata’s next goal: reaching 100% service coverage in all of India’s cities.