The Indian government, through its Union Budget 2023-2024, has allocated an estimated sum of Rs 100 crore towards the National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE). The initiative aims to achieve total mechanized desludging of septic tanks and sewers across the entirety of India’s cities and towns. Plans are already underway to extend the Scheme to all the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) within the country.
Exploring the NAMASTE Scheme
Introduced in 2022 as a Central Sector Scheme, NAMASTE is a joint undertaking between the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (MoSJE). The scheme’s primary focus is to eliminate unsafe practices in sewer and septic tank cleaning.
Several objectives guide the effective implementation of this scheme. Among these include:
– An aim to have zero fatalities in sanitation work
– Ensuring all sanitation activities are executed by skilled workers.
– Preventing any sanitation worker from coming into direct contact with human waste.
– Empowering sanitation workers by integrating them into Self Help Groups (SHGs) and availing opportunities to manage sanitation enterprises.
– Strengthening supervisory and monitoring systems at National, State, and ULB levels for improved enforcement and oversight over safe sanitation practices.
– Increasing awareness about the importance of utilizing services from registered and skilled sanitation workers within individual and institutional sanitation service seekers.
NAMASTE in Action: Key Features of the Scheme across all ULBs
Certain features characterize the roll-out of the NAMASTE scheme in ULBs. These include:
– Identifying Sewer/Septic Tank Workers (SSWs), equipping them with necessary job training and distributing PPE Kits.
– Providing necessary safety devices to Sanitation Response Units (SRUs).
– Extending the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) health insurance scheme to identified SSWs and their families.
– Assisting sanitation workers with funding support to procure sanitation-related equipment, thus promoting mechanization and enterprise development.
– Conducting extensive Information Education and Communication (IEC) Campaigns jointly by the ULBs & NSKFDC (National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation) to create awareness about NAMASTE and its interventions.
The Problem of Manual Scavenging
Manual scavenging, a dehumanizing practice as recognized by India’s laws, refers to the removal of human waste from public streets, dry latrines, cleaning septic tanks, gutters and sewers. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR), banned this practice across the country.
Steps Taken to Combat Manual Scavenging
Several measures have been employed to eradicate manual scavenging:
– The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, seeks to fully mechanize sewer cleaning, establish ‘on-site’ protection strategies, and compensate manual scavengers in the event of sewer deaths. The Bill is an amendment proposals to the PEA Act, with its approval still pending from the cabinet.
– The Building and Maintenance of Insanitary Latrines Act of 2013 outlawed construction or maintenance of unsanitary toilets, necessitated mechanized cleaning of insanitary latrines, open drains or pits, and declared illegal the employment of anyone for manual scavenging or hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
– The Prevention of Atrocities Act of 1989 provided crucial protection to sanitation workers, the majority of whom belonged to the Scheduled Caste. The Act significantly aided efforts to liberate manual scavengers from traditionally assigned occupations.
– In a 2014 verdict, the Supreme Court made it obligatory for the government to identify those who lost their lives in sewage work since 1993 and compensate their families with Rs. 10 lakhs.
