Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban
Also called: SBM-U · Topic: Urban Local Government: Municipalities and Cities · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) is a Union government mission, launched on 2 October 2014 (Gandhi Jayanti), to make India's cities open-defecation free (ODF) and to improve how they manage solid waste. Its second phase, SBM-U 2.0 (1 October 2021 to 2025-26), aims to make all cities "Garbage Free". [2]
It matters because sanitation and waste are among the most visible duties of a city government. SBM-U also shows how the Union now pushes cities towards outcomes they can measure, such as ODF status and garbage-free ratings, rather than only paying for buildings and pipes.
Explanation
Phase 1: SBM-U 1.0 (from 2 October 2014)
- Goal 1: open-defecation free (ODF) cities.
- ODF means no one has to defecate in the open.
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Cities reach this by providing household toilets and community toilets.
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Goal 2: better solid waste management.
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Solid waste is the dry and wet garbage that homes, shops and markets throw away.
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Coverage: all statutory towns. A statutory town is a town that has a legally notified urban local body (ULB), such as a municipal corporation, a municipal council or a nagar panchayat.
- Delivery: states and ULBs carry out the work. The Union designs the mission and gives money.
Swachh Survekshan: the competition tool
- Swachh Survekshan is a yearly cleanliness survey that ranks cities.
- Why it matters:
- Cities compete with each other to rank higher.
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Competition pushes them to get cleaner faster.
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NCERT Class 6 links it to waste segregation (keeping wet and dry waste apart) and to the duties of citizens.
Phase 2: SBM-U 2.0 (1 October 2021 to 2025-26)
- Launched: 1 October 2021, on the same day as AMRUT 2.0. [2]
- Main goal: make all cities "Garbage Free". [2]
- Legacy dumpsites: clear the old heaps of garbage that have piled up over many years.
- Grey water and black water:
- Grey water is used household water, for example from kitchens and baths. Black water is sewage.
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SBM-U 2.0 manages both in all cities that AMRUT does not cover. [2]
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Outlay: about ₹1.41 lakh crore. [2]
The shift between the two phases
- 1.0 was about access: toilets, and so ODF status.
- 2.0 is about the full cycle of waste: collecting it, keeping wet and dry waste apart, processing it, and clearing old dumps.
- Limit: these targets depend on ULBs having the staff, skills and their own revenue to keep toilets and waste plants running after the mission ends.
In the Constitution and practice
- Constitutional base:
- The 74th Amendment Act, 1992 came into force on 1 June 1993. It added Part IXA ("The Municipalities") and gave ULBs constitutional status. [1]
- Article 243W lets states give powers to municipalities on the subjects listed in the Twelfth Schedule, which has 18 subjects. These include public health, sanitation and solid waste management. This is the core area of SBM-U.
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Handing over these subjects is optional for states. So many ULBs never got enough funds, functions and staff. Central missions such as SBM-U fill this gap.
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Who runs it:
- The Union, usually through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), sets the goals and rules and releases money.
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States and ULBs carry out the work on the ground.
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Place among the urban missions:
- JNNURM (3 December 2005) came first. It tied money to reforms and covered 65 mission cities. [1]
- SBM-U (2 October 2014) came before the three missions launched on 25 June 2015: AMRUT, the Smart Cities Mission and PMAY-U.
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SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 were launched together on 1 October 2021, under the twin slogans "Garbage Free" and "Water Secure" cities. [2]
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In practice:
- The mission built assets such as toilets.
- Swachh Survekshan created yearly data and competition between cities.
- Like the other missions, it is centrally designed. This raises the question of whether ULBs act as "institutions of self-government" (Article 243W) or simply carry out Central plans.
Don't confuse with
- AMRUT 2.0: aims at "Water Secure" cities: tap water in all statutory towns and sewerage in the 500 AMRUT cities. SBM-U 2.0 aims at "Garbage Free" cities. It handles grey water and black water only in cities that AMRUT does not cover. [2]
- Swachh Survekshan: this is a yearly survey that ranks cities, run within the cleanliness push. It is not a separate mission and has no outlay of its own in the note.
- Smart Cities Mission: launched on 25 June 2015 for 100 cities chosen by challenge. It was run through SPVs (Special Purpose Vehicles: companies under the Companies Act, 2013) and ended on 31 March 2025. SBM-U covers all statutory towns and works through states and ULBs.
- JNNURM: launched on 3 December 2005. It paid for infrastructure in 65 mission cities in return for reforms, and ended in 2014. [1] SBM-U focuses on sanitation outcomes such as ODF status and garbage-free cities.
Prelims Hooks
- SBM-U 1.0 was launched on 2 October 2014 (Gandhi Jayanti). Its goals were ODF cities and solid waste management.
- SBM-U 2.0 was launched on 1 October 2021 and runs until 2025-26. Its goal is "Garbage Free" cities, and its outlay is about ₹1.41 lakh crore. [2]
- Trap: "Garbage Free" goes with SBM-U 2.0, and "Water Secure" goes with AMRUT 2.0. Both were launched on the same day, 1 October 2021. [2]
- Trap: SBM-U 2.0 manages grey water and black water only in cities not covered by AMRUT. [2]
- Trap: SBM-U (2014) is not one of the 25 June 2015 launches. Those were AMRUT, the Smart Cities Mission and PMAY-U.
- Swachh Survekshan is a yearly survey that ranks cities on cleanliness.
Mains Points
- Central mission vs. local self-government:
- Sanitation and solid waste are Twelfth Schedule subjects that belong to municipalities under Article 243W.
- SBM-U is designed by the Union, and its money comes with conditions. This can turn ULBs into bodies that carry out Central plans rather than make their own.
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Reform: states should transfer the 3Fs (funds, functions and functionaries) to ULBs, so that cleanliness lasts after the mission ends.
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From building assets to keeping them working:
- SBM-U moved from building toilets (1.0) to measured outcomes, such as garbage-free ratings and cleared legacy dumpsites (2.0).
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Outcome targets need ULB capacity and their own revenue, such as user charges and property tax. Without these, toilets and waste plants fall into disuse.
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Competition and citizen duty:
- Swachh Survekshan uses rankings to make cities compete, and it creates yearly data.
- Lasting results still depend on citizens separating wet and dry waste. This links SBM-U to civic duty and to people taking part in city government.