No manual scavenging in Hyderabad, says Minister Koppula Eshwar

Begumpet: The Minister for Scheduled Castes Development, BC Welfare and Minority Welfare, Koppula Eshwar, inaugurated Regional Workshop on State Action Plan for Elimination of Manual Cleaning and Sewers System and Septic Tanks at Tourism Plaza here on Monday. Representatives from southern states and two union territories participated in the workshop.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister praised sanitation workers (safai karmacharis) for their role in preserving public health. He said that most of the workers are from Scheduled and Backward castes and urged people not to look down upon them as they play an essential role in maintaining cleanliness. He said that there are 16,000 Safai Karmachari workers in GHMC limits.

He said that manual scavenging was banned in the city and machines were being used in GHMC for scavenging. He stressed the need for extending use of machines in rural areas as well. He said that the state government was committed to implementation of the PEMS Act 2013 in the state.

Joint Secretary of social justice and empowerment department, Government of India, VK Jindal, special chief secretary of SC Development Ajay Mishra, GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar, MA&UD Commissioner Sridevi, Financial Advisor Yogita Swaroop, Additional Commissioner of social justice and empowerment department, Uma Srivastava, Director of SC Development Department of Telangana, Karunakar, and others participated in the workshop.