There is good news for the garbage pickers. More than five thousand garbage pickers in the Gurugram Municipal Corporation area will now be included in the Central Government’s ‘Namaste Yojana’. It has been given the green signal in the Standing Finance Committee meeting held in June. The Urban Local Bodies Department has also received a notification regarding this.
Letters have been written to all the municipal corporations of the state to implement the scheme and to provide its benefits to the waste pickers. By joining the scheme, waste pickers will not only get the benefit of many government schemes, but they will also get the benefit of health insurance along with PPE kits for waste picking. For this, they will also be given special training by the Municipal Corporation on how to pick waste properly.
The Central Government has launched the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) Scheme, a central sector scheme for the welfare of sewer and septic tank workers. It includes a self-employment component for rehabilitation of erstwhile manual scavengers (MS). The Standing Finance Committee in its meeting held on June 20 approved the inclusion of waste pickers as the third component in the ‘Namaste Scheme’ from the financial year 2024-25.
The main objective of the waste pickers component of the scheme is to integrate waste pickers in solid waste management. The aim of the scheme is to recognize and strengthen their contribution in waste collection, recovery and recycling, provide them recognition, provide safe and sustainable work environment, social security, health insurance under AB-PMJAY and empower and protect them through various planned and non-planned interventions.
These facilities will be available including subsidy for cleaning machines
● Registration of these employees through digital application.
● PPE kits, safety equipment, and health insurance coverage will be provided.
● Occupational safety training will be given. During this time, they will get subsidy for vehicles and machines related to cleanliness.
● Will be encouraged to start own sanitation ventures.
● Awareness campaigns will be conducted for safety and respect.
● Will be protected from direct contact with human excreta.
● Will be inducted into Emergency Response Sanitation Units (ERSU). Will be given safety training during work.
Problem due to increasing garbage mountains in cities
The country’s first municipal solid waste rules in the year 2000 aimed to collect, transport and dispose of waste in safe landfills. This policy proved ineffective and garbage mountains grew in cities. The government notified the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, which brought forth the need for a paradigm shift in solid waste management (SWM).
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