PARLIAMENT QUESTION: WELFARE AND PROFILING OF SEWER AND SEPTIC TANK WORKERS
PARLIAMENT QUESTION: WELFARE AND PROFILING OF SEWER AND SEPTIC TANK WORKERS
The current profiled Sewer and Septic Tank Workers in the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) across India, is 57,758. Sewer and Septic Tank cleaning work is an occupation-based activity rather than caste based. The category-wise composition of the validated Sewer and Septic Tanks Workers (SSWs) under ‘National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE)’ scheme in States/UTs are as under:
Caste/Category
No. of SSWs
%age
General
4,391
8.05
OBC
8,587
15.73
SC
37,060
67.91
ST
4,536
8.31
Grand Total
54,574
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in convergence with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs with an objective to ensure safety and dignity to Safai Karmacharis and to empower them socially and economically has formulated the NAMASTE scheme, which was launched in 2023-24 for its implementation in all 4800+ ULBs of the country. The status of NAMASTE scheme is as under:
In addition, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has issued comprehensive advisories and guidelines to all States and UTs from time to time on safety procedures for maintaining sewers and septic tanks, ERSUs set up and machinery requirements. Under the SBM-U 2.0, MoHUA has sanctioned Rs. 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 Lok Sabha today.
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