Tamil Nadu Govt and Urban Management Centre to ensure zero fatality and accident-free sanitation work through Sanitation Workers Development Scheme

Chennai: In an effort to implement progressive measures in the space of urban sanitation, The Government of Tamil Nadu along with the support of the Urban Management Centre (UMC) recently launched the Sanitation Workers Development Scheme focusing on various welfare measures to provide benefits to sanitation workers and their families. The aim of the scheme is to make Tamil Nadu a state with zero fatality during sanitation work and ensure overall safety, well-being and dignified livelihoods of the sanitation workers.

More than 53,000 sanitation workers (including permanent and temporary workers) in the ULBs will be benefitted from this scheme along with the informal workers that are involved in works like desludging of onsite sanitation systems (OSS), maintenance of sewers and operation & maintenance (O&M) of sewage treatment plants (STP), institutional, public and community toilets.

For the implementation of this scheme, UMC is working closely with different departments of Tamil Nadu Government including the Municipal and Water Supply Department (MAWS), Town and Country Planning, Chennai Metro Water Board and TAHDCO (Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing Development Corporation) amongst others. UMC is taking the lead in implementing the scheme in collaboration with Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) which is supporting the state in implementation of FSM and inclusive sanitation.