Shillong: Williamnagar, headquarters of East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya, has been recognised as the ‘State First Swachh City’ under the 2025-26 assessment. It is among 30 cities across states and Union Territories, acknowledged for their performance in urban sanitation and cleanliness.President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday conferred the Swachh Survekshan Awards 2025–26 at a ceremony held at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi.President Murmu emphasised that cleanliness requires the active participation of all stakeholders and cannot be achieved through the efforts of any single institution. She underscored the importance of citizen participation, behavioural change, administrative accountability and sustained public engagement.The assessment was undertaken against 43 indicators across 10 key areas, including waste segregation, collection and transportation, solid waste management, visible cleanliness, access to sanitation, used water management, citizen feedback and the welfare of sanitation workers.“The results reflected improvements across urban India, with more than 1,700 urban local bodies having populations below 50,000 improving their rankings compared to the previous edition. More than 350 urban local bodies also improved their positions by over 500 ranks,” an official statement said.
