Stress on improving living standards of scavengers

Vijayawada: The lives of sewage cleaning workers should be improved for the development of the country, Jagadish Hiremani, member of the National Commission for SafaiKarmacharis said here on Tuesday.

Addressing at the review meeting with district officials over the improvements need to be undertaken for the welfare of sewage cleaners, he said that efforts were on to completely relieve the sewage cleaners from that work by 2022.

He said that it was indeed proud that Vijayawada secured fifth place in Swachh Bharat programme. He appealed to the officials to focus on four issues for the betterment of their lives: Firstly, the sewage cleaners should be given salaries as per the Minimum Wages Act.

Secondly, health camps should be conducted regularly along with master checkup to keep them in good health. The sewage cleaners should be provided with housing under various government schemes. Lastly, the family members of the cleaning community should be provided with education facility to come up in life.

He said that he had visited several places in the city where the sewage cleaners were working. He deplored that the women working at the Pundit Nehru Bus Station were not given gloves, nor they have any identity cards.  He said that the RTC officials were instructed to implement the directions of the National Commission and submit the report in 10 days.

Hiremani said that the Central Government would sanction loans to the eligible cleaning workers ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20 lakh. “It is pity that very small number of applications for loans is being forwarded from the cleaning workers from AP,” he said.