Swachhata Hi Seva 2026: Theme, Dates and ODF Plus Progress

The correct answer is Swachhata Mein Sahbhag; Swachh Bharat, Viksit Bharat. The PIB backgrounder of 20 September 2026 gives this as the theme of Swachhata Hi Seva 2026, which began on 17 September. The campaign places students and young people at the centre of lasting behaviour change.

Option D is the trap. 'Ek Din, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath' is part of the same campaign, but it is the banner for the collective shramdaan that citizens will carry out on 1 October, not the campaign's theme. Options B and C are not given in the release as the 2026 theme, so they are wrong as well. Keep the campaign calendar straight: it began on 17 September, the shramdaan is on 1 October, and special Gram Sabhas are held in villages on 2 October.

The correct answer is Rising. The backgrounder explains that ODF Plus villages are classified into three progressive stages. Aspiring villages manage either solid or liquid waste. Rising villages manage both solid and liquid waste. Model villages manage both waste streams and, in addition, are visibly clean and display ODF Plus messaging.

Option A is wrong because an Aspiring village manages only one of the two kinds of waste. Option C is wrong because the question describes a village that has not reached the top stage, and Model is that top stage. Option D, Emerging, is not one of the three stages at all. The order to remember is Aspiring, then Rising, then Model. As of 17 September 2026, 5.25 lakh of India's 5.69 lakh ODF Plus villages had reached the Model stage.

The correct answer is 5.69 lakh. According to the PIB backgrounder, India had attained 5.69 lakh ODF Plus villages as of 17 September 2026. An ODF Plus village sustains its Open Defecation Free status, manages solid and liquid waste and maintains visual cleanliness.

The other figures are close enough to confuse, and two of them come from the same release. Option A, 5.25 lakh, is the number of villages that have reached ODF Plus Model status, a subset of the total. Option B, 5.38 lakh, is the number of villages with solid waste management arrangements. Option D, 6.10 lakh, does not appear in the release. The release also gives 5.65 lakh villages with liquid waste management systems, so read such questions carefully and match each figure to what it measures.

The correct answer is 2017. The PIB backgrounder says Swachhata Hi Seva was launched in 2017 as an annual campaign that brings government institutions, local bodies, organisations and citizens together around a shared responsibility for cleanliness. More than 18.06 crore citizens took part in its 2025 edition.

Option A, 2014, is the year the Swachh Bharat Mission itself began, when rural sanitation coverage stood at 39 percent; SHS came later. Option C, 2019, is the year rural India was declared Open Defecation Free. Option D, 2021, is not linked to the launch of the campaign in the release. Questions on sanitation often line up these years as options, so keep the sequence clear: SBM in 2014, SHS in 2017, rural India ODF in 2019. The 2026 edition of the campaign began on 17 September.