New Delhi: The government today announced the launch of cleanliness survey for this year as part of Swachh Bharat Mission. The Swachh Survekshan 2018 will rank 500 cities on national level which have more than 1 lakh population, while 3,541 cities with less than 1 lakh population will have State and Regional ranking, according to an official release. 

"With the roll out of Swachh Survekshan 2018, we look forward to a cleaner India, where each Indian citizen has played his/her part in the nation's transformation," Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was quoted as saying at a ministry event. Providing details of the Swachh Survekshan 2018, the minister said it would be the largest survey impacting more than 40 crore urban population. 

The survey attempts to capture the progress in six broad parameters, including collection and transportation of municipal solid waste, sanitation-related progress, and whether cities have started campaigns promoting Swachh Survekshan, engaging citizens in waste management, maintenance of community and public toilets. 

The Swachh Survekshan-2016 was conducted in January, 2016 assessing 73 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). Mysuru got the tag of the cleanest city of India that year. The 2017 edition was conducted in January-February 2017 covering 434 ULBs. Indore emerged as the cleanest city in the country in that survey. This year the survey would be conducted from January to March.