Lok Sabha Question No. 3668 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-17
Subject: Funds Allocated for Rehabilitating Manual Scavengers
Ministry: SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
Asked by: Shri Vamsi Krishna Gaddam

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## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3668 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2024

## FUNDS ALLOCATED FOR REHABILITATING MANUAL SCAVENGERS

## 3668. SHRI VAMSI KRISHNA GADDAM:

## Will the Minister of SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the funds allocated and utilised for rehabilitating manual scavengers in the country under central schemes since 2020, State/UT - wise, particularly in Telangana;
- (b) the total number of beneficiaries yet to receive financial aid or skill training in Telangana;
- (c) whether the Government has reviewed implementation bottlenecks; and
- (d) the steps being taken to expedite the disbursement of pending funds and benefits?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT (SHRI RAMDAS ATHAWALE)

- (a) & (b): The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment is implementing a Central Sector Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS), there is no State-wise allocation of funds.

States/UTs wise funds utilized for One Time Cash Assistance to identified manual scavengers, Capital subsidy for alternate self employment projects and stipend under skill development training to manual scavenges and their dependents since 2020 is at Annexure-l

As per the two surveys conducted for the identification of manual scavengers in 2013 and 2018, no manual scavengers have been identified in Telangana.

- (c): The main findings of the two Evaluation studies carried out in 2017-18 and 2019-2020 regarding implementation of the Self Employment Scheme for the Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) are at Annexure-II.
- (d): At present, there are no pending claims country wide, under SRMS.

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Annexure-I referred in reply to parts (a) and (b) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3668 for Answer on 17.12.2024 regarding Funds Allocated for Rehabilitating Manual Scavengers.

States/UTs wise funds utilized for rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (Rs. In lakh)

|       | S.No State     |   OTCA provided @ Rs. 40,000/- per beneficiary |   Expenditure on Training+ Stipend |   Capital Subsidy for General Projects |
|-------|----------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| 1     | Andhra Pradesh |                                          132   |                              17.29 |                                   0    |
| 2     | Assam          |                                         1220.4 |                              44.43 |                                   0    |
| 3     | Bihar          |                                            0   |                               0.94 |                                   0    |
| 4     | Jharkhand      |                                           27.2 |                               0.15 |                                   0    |
| 5     | Karnataka      |                                          418.4 |                             112.39 |                                1173.7  |
| 6     | Kerala         |                                            0   |                               2.48 |                                   0    |
| 7     | Madhya Pradesh |                                           67.6 |                               7.94 |                                   0    |
| 8     | Maharashtra    |                                          287.2 |                             106.96 |                                  43.73 |
| 9     | Odisha         |                                            4.4 |                               0    |                                   0    |
| 10    | Punjab         |                                            3.6 |                               0    |                                   7.68 |
| 11    | Rajasthan      |                                           92.8 |                             180.54 |                                   0    |
| 12    | Tamil Nadu     |                                            5.6 |                               0    |                                   4.37 |
| 13    | Uttar Pradesh  |                                         2506.8 |                            1265.16 |                                 355.38 |
| 14    | Uttarakhand    |                                         1110   |                             147.4  |                                   0    |
| 15    | West Bengal    |                                            0.8 |                              21.83 |                                 697.68 |
| Total | Total          |                                         5876.8 |                            1907.51 |                                2282.54 |

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Annexure-II referred in reply to part (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 3668 for Answer on 17.12.2024 regarding Funds Allocated for Rehabilitating Manual Scavengers.

## Evaluation Study on Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) in 2017-18

## Finding:

- The information gathered from the field were consolidated, compiled and tabulated for analysis and representation. A total of 3813 beneficiaries were interviewed and responses were recorded across all 13 states.
- Majority of respondents (45%) are in the age group of 31-45 years followed by 25% in 46-60 age group. Gender wise classification shows that out of total, 56.5% beneficiaries were female. 47 percent are illiterate followed by 21 percent literate.
- 42.3% of the respondents are working as sanitation worker in their area followed by wage labourers (21.6%). 22.2 percent have reported that they are not working anywhere. This percent includes housewives, elder persons etc.
- The respondents have changed their occupation after receiving the One Time Cash Assistance (OTCA) of Rs. 40,000/-. 1.8 percent respondents are working as permanent sanitation worker in the municipality. The financial assistance and skill development training given to the identified manual scavengers has played very vital role in upgrading their occupation status.
- Income of the manual scavengers has increased after leaving manual scavenging and adopting alternate occupations.
- 98 percent of the beneficiaries have received the OTCA in their bank account and 2 percent have received the amount in cash.
- 20.3 percent of the respondents have utilized the OTCA amount in House Renovation followed by medical expenses (18.1%) and domestic consumption (12.6%). Another 12.6 percent respondents have reported that they have established small enterprises for their livelihood. Close to 18 percent respondents have reported that they have bought cattles like cow, goat, pigs, and buffalo for their livelihood. Some of the respondents also reported that they have bought drain wash tankers and sanitation equipments ete and earning money as their alternative source of occupation.

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- No family members of the Identified Manual Scavengers are engaged in manual scavenging as per their current status of occupation.
- 2151 beneficiaries and their dependents have enrolled for skill training across all 13 states. 35.7% of the respondents have selected skill trade for undergoing skill training followed by self-motivation (33.8%) and training institutes (28.4%). 60 percent of the respondents have received Rs. 3000/- per month as stipend during the skill training.
- 24.4 percent have faced difficulty in joining the training programme due to location of the training center followed by documentation process.Out of total trainees, 11.1 percent have reported to have been offered job by the training institute.
- Trainees who have been offered job after skill training have joined the job nearby their home town or are self employed. The main sectors of self employment were stitching& tailoring, beauty parlour, vegetable vendoring, shops, security guard, plumbing, computer operators, auto-rickshaw driving, sanitary tank operator etc.
- Close to 42 percent are earning Rs 5000 - Rs 10,000/- per month followed by 26.6 percent earning upto Rs 3000/- per month.
- The life of the beneficiaries has changed after skill training as house hold income increased, confidence level has increased and respect in community has also increased.
- 42 percent children (6- 15 years) of the identified manual scavengers are going to schools across all 13 states.
- Cases of discrimination were reported with the children of identified manual scavengers in the schools.
- 7.3 percent of respondents have applied for loan and out of those, 72 percent have received loan.
- Respondents who are engaged in sanitation works without adhering safety measures are suffering from various health related problem. Approx. 12% of respondents have reported that they face caste based discrimination at work places.
- 52% of the respondents have opined that the SRMS programme is good followed by 44 percent opined to be average and 3.8 percent said to be bad.

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## Evaluation Study on Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) in 2019-20

## Finding:

- These observations are based on a survey of Manual Scavenger who received One Time Cash Assistance (OTCA) across the selected states.
- Actual expenditure on the scheme depends upon the level of participation of states in the identification of Manual Scavengers.
- Female participation was found considerable as compared to the male counterpart. Around 74.7 percent of the beneficiaries are under the age of 45 years followed by 21.4 of the total sampled beneficiaries who have reported their age between 45 years and 60 years.
- About 94 percent of the beneficiaries have received the OTCA while 6 percent are still waiting.
- Increase in the family income of most of the beneficiaries is because OTCA has supported them in switching to more remunerative employment opportunities.
- All school-going children have reported that they are receiving scholarships under state sponsored schemes.
- 9.8 percent of the beneficiaries shown interest in availing loan facilities. 73% beneficiaries, who are awaited loan and 24 percent, have used the loan for starting a business.
- 90.2% did not show interest in availing a loan for lack of confident of getting a loan, interest (23.4%) and awareness (13.2%).
- To address the health problems of manual scavengers, NSKFDC has been organizing health camps to provide free medical check-up from 2018-19 onwards.
- Most of the beneficiaries have shown their interest in switching to alternate job but 19 percent of the view that doing the sanitary and cleaning related works with proper machine and equipment will be easier than switching to alternative occupation. It has been found that most of the beneficiaries i.e. 64 are aware of the MS Act 2013.
- On an average about 18.27 percent of the beneficiaries have availed insurance facilities.

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