Delhi's Push for Safer Sanitation: Ensuring Protection for Manual Scavengers

Delhi's Social Welfare Minister, Ravinder Indraj Singh, has taken a strong stance on improving safety measures for manual scavengers, instructing officials to ensure they are equipped with PPE kits and enrolled in the Ayushman Bharat Scheme before the monsoon season.

Speaking at a meeting focused on the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, as well as the NAMASTE scheme for mechanized sanitation, Singh emphasized the urgent need for PPE and safety equipment for every sewer and septic tank worker.

Under Singh's direction, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has been tasked with speeding up surveys in unauthorized colonies. The departments are also pushed to provide training and rehabilitation for workers, establish Emergency Response Sanitation Units, and promptly resolve pending compensation cases that date back to directives ignored since a 2014 notification.

(With inputs from agencies.)