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

Swachhata Hi Seva 2026

This year's Swachhata Hi Seva (SHS) campaign began on 17 September 2026 under the theme 'Swachhata Mein Sahbhag; Swachh Bharat, Viksit Bharat'. A PIB backgrounder published on 20 September sets out the campaign calendar and takes stock of rural sanitation under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Gramin (SBM-G).

• 1 October: citizens join a collective shramdaan under the banner 'Ek Din, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath'.
• 2 October: special Gram Sabhas and cleanliness awareness programmes are held in villages.

SHS was launched in 2017 as an annual campaign to draw citizens into cleanliness work, and more than 18.06 crore citizens took part in the 2025 edition. The 2026 campaign puts students and young people at its centre, with Swachhata Gyan Yatras, school Samvads, demonstrations of segregating waste at source, Swachhata Evam Jal Samvads and sessions on the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2026.

From ODF to ODF Plus

When the Swachh Bharat Mission started in 2014, rural sanitation coverage stood at 39 percent. Between 2014 and 2019 more than 10.28 crore toilets were built across 36 States and Union Territories; rural India reached 100 percent coverage and was declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) in 2019. Phase II of SBM-G then moved the focus to keeping villages ODF and managing their solid and liquid waste.

An ODF Plus village keeps its ODF status, manages solid and liquid waste and stays visibly clean. Such villages move through three stages:

• Aspiring: manages either solid or liquid waste
• Rising: manages both solid and liquid waste
• Model: manages both, is visibly clean and displays ODF Plus messages

Where things stand

GOBARdhan, short for Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan, is the flagship umbrella initiative of SBM-G Phase II. It turns cattle dung, crop residue and organic waste into biogas, compressed biogas (CBG) and organic manure.

People behind the numbers

The backgrounder puts as much weight on behaviour as on infrastructure. SBM-G guidelines give women preference as Swachhagrahis and treat DAY-NRLM self-help groups as key platforms for behaviour change communication. Among the examples it gives:

• In Howrah, West Bengal, SHGs gathered 9.32 tonnes of plastic waste in 18 days across 18 gram panchayats along the Ganga.
• Gadli Gram Panchayat in Haryana reached ODF Plus Model status, treating greywater through five ponds under Sarpanch Kanta Kanwar.
• Karnataka's Swachh Sanivara brings communities out to clean public places on the first Saturday of every month.
• In Betul, Madhya Pradesh, Babita Dhurve became the district's first woman e-rickshaw waste collector.
• Vedancha in Gujarat treats 200 kilolitres of greywater a day and earns about ₹2.5 lakh a year from compost and reused water.

Exam focus

The facts most likely to be asked: the SHS 2026 theme and start date, the year SHS began (2017), the three ODF Plus stages, the figure of 5.69 lakh ODF Plus villages, the full form of GOBARdhan, and the SBM starting point of 39 percent rural sanitation coverage in 2014.