An IISc team flags major flaws in the Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan ranking framework, calling for it to be reassessed and, in some recommendations, scrapped. The reporting says the current methodology contains vulnerabilities that can affect the reliability of the rankings.
Both outlets describe concerns about how the assessment is carried out. A key issue cited is the presence of conflicts of interest, where urban local bodies (ULBs) participate as self-assessors. This arrangement, according to the IISc findings reported by the outlets, can weaken the credibility of results by allowing outcomes to be influenced by the entities being evaluated.
While the exact scope of proposed changes is not identical across accounts, the shared theme is that the framework’s structure and safeguards are inadequate. The IISc recommendations therefore focus on changing how air-quality and related performance indicators are measured and verified, with an emphasis on addressing conflicts, improving assessment design, and strengthening oversight to make the rankings more dependable.
