We are dependent on north Indians and this is what they do. They are not bothered about Goa. They will like to recreate a Haryana in Goa,” Sardesai said .

Minister compared North India to Goa’s superior parameters.

Go deeper: Indian Tourism Report 2016–2017

I P Bajpai wrote in 2015, “Delhi (the part administered by the MCD — which is most of the capital) is among the country’s 100 filthiest cities, joining 73 other North Indian cities in that lowly group. This conglomerate of smelly eyesores (multiple assault on senses) includes our holiest of holy — Varanasi, Allahabad, Ajmer and Amritsar. Obviously Godliness and Cleanliness are not related, or at least in the North.”

He sighted Swach Bharat Mission Rankings.

Survey gave more weightage to documentation and feedback than to independent fact finding. For example Varanasi got higher rank than Bhubaneshwar. rajesh mahapatra doubted the rankings.

Harry Stevens of HT built a visualisation to fiddle with different weightage.

So what if we scrap the documentation and citizen feedback, instead relying entirely on the ground assessment? Bhopal rises to the top of the list, while Indore falls to 11th. Varanasi actually improves, rising from 32nd to 28th, while Bhubaneswar improves from 94th to 70th, still far behind.

If we only consider citizen feedback, Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh, rises from 136th to the top of the charts. Apparently, Neemuch’s citizens think their city is very clean, even if the government and independent assessors disagree. And if only documentation matters, Chandigarh becomes the country’s cleanest city, rising from its former rank of 11th.