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PMC’s pays private firm ₹1.27 cr for better documentation of Swachh Survekshan reports
In the 2019 Swachh Survekshan awards, Pune dropped by 27 ranks in the national Cleanest City survey conducted across 4,237 municipal areas, under the Swachh Bharat mission
To better its Swachh Survekshan ranking under the Swachh Bharat mission, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has paid private accounting and consulting firm KPMG ₹1. 27 crore for documentation that will be submitted to the central government.
Swachh Survekshan is conducted by the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA). Most urban local bodies (ULBs) of the country participate in the annual exercise to be ranked on the basis of various parameters of cleanliness. The prime objective is to encourage large-scale participation by citizens. The goal is also to make all sections of the society aware about the importance of working together to make towns and cities a better place.
Dnyaneshwar Molak, chief, solid waste management department, PMC said, “Despite carrying out several projects, our ranking was affected because of documentation and certification. Maybe, the paper work was not checked properly by third party companies. Hence, we have appointed KPMG as a consultant to improve the documentation for the 2020 survey.”
According to Molak, KPMG will be responsible for documentation, right from collecting daily reports to compiling and proofreading it before submitting the final draft to the Swachh Bharat mission. He said, “It becomes difficult for the civic body to maintain records of the work done by us on a daily basis and submit the same collaborated data. Besides, KPMG will also be responsible for giving suggestions to us to improve cleanliness and hygiene in the city.”
In the 2019 Swachh Survekshan awards, Pune dropped by 27 ranks in the national Cleanest City survey conducted across 4,237 municipal areas, under the Swachh Bharat mission. Last year, the city was ranked 10th, its best ever since the rankings started in 2016.
“We have been appointing consultants for the same work since past three years”, said Molak adding that private consulting firm Ernest & Young (E&Y) was outsourced the documentation work last year. Under the survey, the sources and methods of data collection have been segregated into three main areas, — a collection of data from and interactions with municipal body, collection of data from direct observation and collection of data from citizen feedback.
