New Delhi, Sep 29 (IANS) As the nation celebrates the fortnight-long Swachhata Hi Seva 2024, starting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 74th birthday on September 17, many success stories of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) are coming to the fore.

SBM, also known as Clean India Mission, started off on October 2, 2014, and in the past ten years, it has brought transformational changes in the lives of people and society.

Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) of Shivaji Nagar in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi district is one such medical facility which has bagged the Kayakalp Award for the sixth consecutive term.

This year also, it has been selected for the top honours and is looking forward to an award under the Swachh Bharat Mission's 'Best Urban Health Centre' category.

It is the only centre selected in Kalyan for the Kayakalp award, in recognition of its high-quality service in promoting hospital cleanliness, hygiene and infection control.

The hospital staff and health professionals are confident of getting the Kayakalp award this time too.

Speaking to , Dr. Sandhya Rani Pauranik of Urban Primary Health Centre in Kalaburgi district explained the concept of the Kayakalp Award and also took pride in getting the honours, every year since 2017.

"We got awarded for the sixth consecutive time since 2017 in the Gulbarga division. The Kayakalp Award is a recognition which envisages hospitals to stay clean and tidy all the time," she said.

'No patient should carry disease outside' remains one of the major focuses of Kayakalp's mission, she explained.

She further said that the award recipient gets a sum of Rs 2 lakh yearly and the hospital premises are also inspected by a team of doctors on a yearly basis.

Mehmood Sen, who works as health inspector at the UPHC said that the facilities are better and easily reachable, to people.

"A clean and tidy atmosphere at the hospital is an added benefit for patients," he said.

Nafisa Begum, who got transferred to Kalaburagi UPHC after 11 years of work at some village centre, said that this is a much better facility compared to one where she worked earlier.

"Cleanliness and sanitation are a big priority. Patients also feel better in hygienic conditions. I want to convey to Modi government that we will match steps with the government in pursuing this dream," she told .

The Kayakalp Award is an award given to public health facilities in India that demonstrate high levels of cleanliness, hygiene, and infection control. The award is given by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

The award is given to two best district hospitals in each state, best two community health centres or sub district hospitals and one primary health centre in every district

The parameters which decide a hospital's qualification for the award include hospital or facility upkeep, waste management, infection control and more.