The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment in convergence with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs with an objective to provide dignity to Safai Karmacharis and to empower them socially and economically has formulated the ‘National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE)” scheme, which was launched in 2023-24 for its implementation in all 4800+ ULBs of the country. The goal of NAMASTE scheme is as under:

 

1. To ensure safety and dignity of sanitation workers in India by creating an enabling ecosystem that recognizes sanitation workers as one of the key contributors in operations and maintenance of sanitation infrastructure thereby providing sustainable livelihood and enhancing their occupational safety through capacity building and improved access to safety gear and machines.
2. Providing access to entitlements and livelihoods support to reduce the vulnerabilities of sanitation workers and enable them to access self-employment through providing Capital subsidy for Sanitation Related Project to make them ‘SANIPRENEUR’ and skilled wage employment opportunities after getting occupational Safety Training & PPE Kits.
3. In addition, NAMASTE would bring about a behavior change amongst citizens towards sanitation workers and enhance demand for safe sanitation services, as all service seekers have to approach SRU for cleaning of Sewer Septic Tanks, no informal worker will be allowed to undertake such work.

 

Mechanization of all sewer related works come under the purview of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) who have issued comprehensive advisories and guidelines to all States and UTs from time to time on safety procedures for maintaining sewers and septic tanks, Emergency Response Sanitation Units (ERSUs) set up and machinery requirements. Under the SBM-U 2.0, the MoHUA has sanctioned INR 371 Crores to 26 States/UTs for procuring desludging vehicles. 2,585 desludging vehicles have been sanctioned so far.

 

This information was provided by UNION MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT, SHRI RAMDAS ATHAWALE, in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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VM

(Rajya Sabha US Q1888)

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