NAMASTE Scheme 2023 Update for Sanitation workers This time more help from the government

When we are talking about this scheme we are talking about a mechanised environment for sanitation workers. See all these many scavenging practices are legally banned in India but it is still followed due to reasons like poverty as they don’t have the proper skills or proper education to do the job so many people do the works which is provided to them. Though poverty is not only the reason for people to follow manual scavenging you can say that it is a kind of generational hierarchy that is going among the manual scavenging.

To tackle these problems we are looking at how the central government focuses on these sectors or such sections of society which were ignored by many people and treated as the lower members of society. So to look out for the matter government came up with a new scheme called NAMASTE.

Brief Description of Project

Name of Scheme	National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE)
Scheme Benefits	Sanitation workers will get many facilities.
Objective	To help the sanitation workers in their job and to give financial help.

What is the NAMASTE scheme?

Well as I said that manual scavenging is banned in India so the government launched this scheme but it doesn’t mean that the people who are doing it for past years are now removed from it. No, it will not happen the only support that government will provide is practising manual scavenging through the use of modern machinery and also to remove some labour from it and provide them with a new skill set.

What is Manual Scavenging?

If you are wondering what is manual scavenging then I want to tell you that many times you saw in the street that certain people clean the pit of our street where urinal wastage or other things are present. This is manual scavenging. In other words, you can say that Manual Scavenging is the process of cleaning the pits, and holes in our street or a house by a man manually which is a very unsafe process for the health or even the life of the individual who cleans the pit.

National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme 2022 Key Highlights

Portal	National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE)
Launched by	Central government scheme
Ministry Control	Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
Process	Offline
Year	2022
Objective	To help the sanitation workers in their job and to give financial help.
Benefits	Sanitation workers will get many facilities.
Beneficiary	All the sanitation workers will get the benefit.
Official Website	Click Here

Ministry and launch date of the NAMASTE scheme

NAMASTE scheme is launched recently in 2022 and this scheme falls under the control of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with the joint Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. So you can proudly say that the NAMASTE scheme is the joint initiative of both ministries described above. As the manual scavenging process is mainly practised in urban areas so the ministry of housing and urban affairs is also taken care of it and these two ministries are doing very well for the welfare of the sanitation workers.

Who is the implementing Agency?

Though the above-described ministry is the initiative of this scheme also there is an implementing agency of the NAMASTE scheme and the agency name is National Safai Karamchari Financial Development Corporation (NSKFDC).

Total Budget or Outlay of NAMASTE scheme

As every scheme when launched, the government decides its budget or you can say it estimates how much money will b spent in this particular scheme to achieve its target. The total outlay of the MANSTE scheme is 360 crore rupees from the year 2022-23 to 2025-26.

Aim of the NAMASTE scheme

There are three major portions or sections that are going to be taken care of under this scheme,

1. To ensure the safety of sanitation workers

The first step that the government has taken after launching the Namaste scheme is to get information about those persons who are involved in the manual scavenging process. After this government decided to take care of the safety of those sanitation workers as in past years those workers directly jump into the pits where hazardous substances came into contact with that man’s body which is very dangerous for the health of that person.

Under this step government also decided to take care of the sanitation worker in the urban area by providing them with a sustainable livelihood and also enhancing their occupational safety by providing them with proper body equipment, machine and safety gear like a proper mask, and gloves.

2. Provide access to alternative livelihood support

As sanitation workers are mainly those who are in the trap of intergenerational due to lack of money, skills, education or any other reason. So through this scheme government’s aim is to provide an alternative livelihood and, motivate them towards self-employment so that they can get out of this inter-generationally trap and live a completely new life with a new occupation.

3. To bring behaviour change among the citizens

There is very less respect and rude behaviour towards the sanitation workers and many people treated them as the lowest group of people which is wrong with the help of this newly launched NAMASTE scheme government wants to bring a behavioural change towards the sanitation workers as they are one due to which our house pipelines and sewage system work properly. The aim is also to provide the necessary equipment to the person who is going to clean the lettering pit if he doesn’t have it at that time.

The objective of NAMASTE Scheme

1. Zero Fatalities for the sanitation workers in India

One of the main objectives of the government regarding this scheme is to reduce the number of deaths of sanitation workers as many of these is died due to the direct contact of the waste materials/hazardous materials with the sanitation workers because these sewage materials contain harmful bacteria, fungi and viruses which directly affect the sanitation workers and many times they get died due to this.

2. Skilled Workers

All manual scavenging should be performed by only skilled workers who properly know how to do manual scavenging. Not any random or new person without any experience and training starts performing the scavenging.

3. Avoid direct contact with waste material

Also, the sanitation worker during the process of performing the manual scavenging should not come in direct contact with human faecal materials so the worker should wear proper equipment, gear and any other safety guards.

4. Strengthen supervisory and monitoring systems

Strengthen supervisory and monitory systems at national, state, and ULB (Urban Local Bodies) levels to ensure enforcement and monitoring of safe sanitation workers.

5. Empower to run sanitation enterprise

Sanitation workers are collectivised into SHGs (Self Help Groups) and empowered to run sanitation enterprises.

Key Features of the NAMASTE

1. NAMASTE schemes will be the first implemented in the first five hundred cities which are AMRUT cities. These cities’ lists will be notified from time to time.

Note: Amrut cities are basically the rejuvenation of the urban transformation.

2. The wages that are paid to the sanitation workers are very less and that price is very less than their work efforts. So there is one more feature of this scheme where formal workers are chosen where rules and regulations are followed and they will get good wages, not like the informal workers. Hence the informal workforce is discouraged and tries to remove it completely.
3. Those workers who are identified under the NAMASTE scheme will be aware and provided with the other social security scheme benefits. As these workers never get updates about the new schemes like Pradhan Mantri Mudra Loan, and insurance policies like Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana so under this scheme government will try to provide beneficiary knowledge to them.

Financial Assistance

As the government will motivate those sanitation workers to set up their enterprises for self-employment and also to enrol in other occupations. Thee the sanitation workers want to start their enterprise or want to do other occupations then they will definitely require some financial help which government will provide under this NAMASTE scheme.

There are some loans the worker can take from the banks under certain interest and also there are some subsidies which will provide to them by the central government.

A loan from Banks

The rate of interest chargeable from the beneficiaries will be as follows:-

Project cost	Rate of Interest per annum
Projects up to Rs. 100000/	5% (4% for women beneficiaries)
Projects above Rs 100000/	6%

c. What happens if the bank charges more interest than described under this scheme

If this case happens the bank is trying to charge more interest than prescribed under this scheme. Then that extra interest you can charge will be paid by the central government on behalf of the worker. This is called Interest Subvention.

Let’s take an example in which the bank is demanding interest of 7% for a loan up to 1 Lakh rupees but as per the NAMASTE scheme, the ban can only charge 5% of the interest from the worker. So this extra 2% will be paid by the central government.

What is the Repayment duration for the loan taken?

When the worker will get the loan then the moratorium period is for 6 months and he can fill the loan amount for up to 5 years for a cost of up to 5 lakh rupees the repayment period is up to 7 years for the loan of cost above 5 lakh rupees.

Capital Subsidy

An upfront Capital subsidy is as under:

Range of Project Cost (Rs.)	Capital Subsidy
For individuals
Upto Rs. 5,00,000	50% of the project cost
5,00,000 to 15,00,000	Rs. 2.5 lakh +25% of the remaining project cost
For Group Projects:
Upto Rs. 10,00,000 lakh per beneficiary with maximum project cost up to Rs. 50,00,000	The same is admissible to individuals subject to a maximum of Rs. 3.75 lakh per beneficiary.

Conclusion

If you have read this whole article then in my opinion all your doubts regarding this Namaste scheme will not come to an end and we remain successful in providing adequate knowledge to you if yes then comment to us and if not please write your query in the comment box which is specially designed for you.