New Delhi, Sept. 28 -- Union minister for housing and urban affairs Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday inaugurated the Swachh Shehar Jodi (SSJ) programme, a mentorship and collaborative action programme intended to enable knowledge transfer, peer learning, and replication of best practices in waste management and urban cleanliness. Under this programme, which comes under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) mission, 72 top-performing "mentor" cities - identified based on their Swachh Survekshan rankings - have been paired with approximately 200 lower-ranked "mentee" cities. "The programme is a non-ceremonial, outcome-driven initiative ensuring that no city is left behind in sanitation metrics," Khattar said at the launch event in Sonipat, Haryana. The event saw simultaneous signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) between mentor and mentee cities nationwide. As of Saturday, 21 states and 57 cities have signed up as mentor cities to guide 163 mentees. Among them are Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh which will guide Chintalapudi, Akiveedu, and Narasapur, among others. In Gujarat, Ahmedabad will mentor Sanand and Wankaner, while Surat will support Mandvi and Palitana. Bhubaneswar in Odisha will mentor Kendrapara and Debagarh, and Chandigarh will serve as a mentor to Panchkula....