Why in the News?
The Ministry of Social Justice launched the Waste Picker Enumeration App under the National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) Scheme to support and formalize India’s informal sanitation workforce.
About NAMASTE Scheme:
- Launch: It is a Central Sector Scheme launched in 2022.
- Implementing Agencies: It is jointly implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), with the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) as the executing body.
- Initial Focus and Expansion: Initially aimed at sewer and septic tank workers (SSWs), the scheme was expanded in June 2024 to include waste pickers.
- Core Objective: To promote safety, dignity, skill development, and social inclusion for sanitation workers.
Key Features of the Scheme:
- Identification: The scheme aims to enumerate SSWs and waste pickers to formally integrate them into government support systems.
- Skill Training: It provides occupational training to ensure sanitation work is safe and professional.
- Protective Gear: PPE kits are distributed to reduce workers’ health risks.
- Health Coverage: Workers and their families receive Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) health insurance.
- Safety Equipment: Sanitation Response Units (SRUs) are supported with modern safety tools.
- Livelihood Support:
- Encourages mechanized sanitation work.
- Offers capital and interest subsidies for buying equipment.
- Collective Formation: Supports sanitation workers in forming Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and sanitation enterprises.
- Awareness Campaigns: ULBs and NSKFDC conduct campaigns promoting dignified and safe sanitation practices.
Key Achievements (as of May 29, 2025):
- Enumerated Workers: Over 80,000 sewer and septic tank workers have been identified and validated.
- Health Coverage: 26,447 health cards issued under PM-JAY.
- PPE Distribution: 45,781 PPE kits delivered to frontline workers.
- Safety Kits: 354 Emergency Response Safety Kits provided to sanitation teams.
- Waste Picker Integration: NAMASTE now aims to profile 2.5 lakh waste pickers, offering them ID cards, insurance, skilling, and livelihood assistance.
| [UPSC 2016] Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan’ is a national campaign to:
Options: (a) rehabilitate the homeless and destitute persons and provide them with suitable sources of livelihood (b) release the sex workers from their practice and provide them with alternative sources of livelihood (c) eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and rehabilitate the manual scavengers* (d) release the bonded labourers from their bondage and rehabilitate them |
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