Delhi’s Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced a new initiative on Monday that will reward the city’s cleanest municipal ward with Rs 1 crore each month for a year. This competition aims to encourage cleanliness and improve municipal services across the capital.
The Rs 1 crore award will go to the ward ranked the cleanest that month. A ward could receive up to Rs 12 crore in CMDF funds over the course of the year, according to the Chief Minister’s Office. The competition was announced as Ms Gupta launched the ‘Delhi Ko Kude Se Azadi-Swachhta Abhiyan 2026’ at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi headquarters. The wider cleanliness campaign will run until October 2, while the ward-level competition will continue for 12 months. The Chief Minister said 70 mechanical sweeping machines, additional litter-picker vehicles for wards and 125 secondary collection centres for construction and demolition waste are also being developed.
The Chief Minister said wards will be judged using reports from an independent agency, assessments submitted by officials and complaints received from residents or flagged on social media. Gupta said the money would be linked to performance and warned that a garbage complaint could affect a ward’s eligibility. The Chief Minister said Delhi continues to face problems with garbage and waste processing, which over the years contributed to the city’s landfill mountains.
