Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Signs MoU with Panchkula MC Under Swachh Shehar Jodi Initiative*
*100-Day Urban Waste Management Mentorship Program Kicks Off*
*Chandigarh, September 27:-* In a significant step towards strengthening inter-city collaboration and promoting best practices in urban sanitation, the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Municipal Corporation Panchkula under the Swachh Shehar Jodi (SSJ) initiative of the Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban (SBM-U).
The MoU signing ceremony took place at the office of MC Chandigarh in the presence of Smt. Harpreet Kaur Babla, Mayor of Chandigarh and Sh. Kulbhushan Goyal, Mayor of Panchkula. Also present were Sh. Amit Kumar, IAS, Commissioner, MC Chandigarh and Sh. R.K. Singh, Commissioner, MC Panchkula, along with senior officials from both corporations.
Speaking on the occasion, Chandigarh Mayor Smt. Harpreet Kaur Babla highlighted that the MoU aligns with the vision of knowledge sharing, peer learning, and replication of successful sanitation models across cities. She emphasized that based on recent Swachh Survekshan rankings, cities have been categorized as mentor and mentee cities. Chandigarh, being a top performer, has been designated as a mentor city, while Panchkula, selected for its potential to grow, has been designated as a mentee city.
The SSJ initiative was launched earlier today by Hon’ble Union Minister Sh. Manohar Lal Khattar through a national virtual event, marking the beginning of this collaborative journey involving 72 mentor cities and around 200 mentee cities across the country.
Mayor Babla stated that the SSJ initiative is one of the largest structured mentorship frameworks in the urban waste management sector. It aims to leverage the strengths of high-performing cities and extend support to others through experience sharing, on-ground mentorship, and policy-driven collaboration.
She further noted that Chandigarh’s consistent performance in Swachh Survekshan—the world’s largest urban sanitation survey—has placed it in the Super Swachh League, which includes cities ranked 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the years 2022, 2023, and 2024 across five population categories. These cities have demonstrated exemplary performance, citizen participation, and governance, becoming role models for others.
MC Commissioner Sh. Amit Kumar, IAS, reiterated that the SSJ initiative provides a dynamic platform for knowledge transfer and strategic mentorship.
Mentor cities, including those in the Super Swachh League, have been paired with geographically proximate low-performing cities to ensure effective mentoring and handholding. Panchkula has been selected based on recent rankings and its readiness to adopt and scale best practices.
He further explained that the MoU marks the launch of a 100-day mentorship program, during which each mentor–mentee pair will co-create detailed action plans with measurable milestones. The focus will be on replicable models, hands-on support, and capacity building. The outcomes of this initiative will also contribute significantly to the performance evaluation in Swachh Survekshan 2026.
The Commissioner added that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) will provide strategic and policy-level support throughout the mentorship period. The goal is clear—each mentee city should demonstrate visible improvement in swachhata outcomes through structured learning and sustained implementation.
This MoU not only formalizes a strong institutional partnership between Chandigarh and Panchkula but also sets the tone for a transformative urban journey driven by collaboration, innovation, and community-centric development.
