Lok Sabha Question No. 2149 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-12
Subject: ULBs Equipped with Mechanised Cleaning Equipments
Ministry: HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
Asked by: Smt. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Thiru Dr. S Jagathratchakan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2149

TO BE ANSWERED ON FEBRUARY 12, 2026

## ULBS EQUIPPED WITH MECHANISED CLEANING EQUIPMENTS

NO. 2149.

THIRU DR. S JAGATHRATCHAKAN:

SMT. KANIMOZHI KARUNANIDHI:

Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  total  number  of  Urban  Local  Bodies  (ULBs)  and  municipalities equipped with mechanised sewer and septic tank cleaning equipments as of March 2025, State-wise;
- (b) the number of ULBs that have fully eliminated manual entry into sewers and  septic  tanks  along  with  the  certification  or  verification  status thereof;
- (c) the number of inspections conducted under the Prohibition of Employment  as  Manual  Scavengers  and  Their  Rehabilitation  Act,  2013 during the last five years and the details of the violations detected in this regard; and
- (d) whether the Government has issued any Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) or technical guidelines mandating the use of mechanical devices for  cleaning  sewer lines and septic tanks and if so, the details thereof including the year of issue?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE

## MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS (SHRI TOKHAN SAHU)

(a) & (b) : Sanitation is a state subject, all State/UTs have been advised to procure or lease necessary equipment to achieve 100% mechanization of sewer and septic tank cleaning. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)  has  identified  required  machinery  and  equipment  for  100% mechanized sewer and septic tank maintenance operation and facilitated listing this equipment on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to facilitate easy procurement by States and ULBs.

MoHUA  launched  a  SafaiMitra  Surakshit  Shehar  protocol  for  all ULBs.  Based  on  the  protocol,  a  ULB  can  be  declared  as  SafaiMitra Surakshit if it attains at least 'adequate' status in each of the domains institutional  domain,  manpower  domain,  and  equipment  domains  as prescribed  in  the  protocol.  Currently,  more  than  3,489  ULBs  have declared themselves SafaiMitra Surakshit Shehar.

As per the information received from Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment  (MoSJE),  NAMASTE  (National  Action  for  Mechanised Sanitation  Ecosystem)  scheme  provides  for  upfront  Capital  Subsidy  to Sanitation Workers and Private Sanitation Service Operators (PSSOs) for procurement and deployment of mechanised  sanitation equipment. Further, under Swachhta Udyami Yojana (SUY), loan and upfront capital subsidy is provided for procurement of mechanized cleaning equipments/ vehicles. Details of the direct loans and upfront capital subsidy provided till March, 2025 under SUV is at Annexure.

(c)  :  MoSJE  has  informed  that  data  of  Inspections  conducted  by States/UTs under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 is not maintained centrally.

(d) : With the objective of eradication of hazardous entry into sewers and septic tanks, and sustaining elimination of manual scavenging, through mechanization  of  sewer  and  septic  tank  cleaning  operations,  a  new component i.e. Used Water management (UWM) has been included under Swachh Bharat Mission - Urban (SBM-U) 2.0.

MoHUA has issued an advisory on Emergency Response Sanitation Unit (ERSU) to institutionalize safety practices and put in place frameworks to mitigate the dangers of manual cleaning of sewer in 2019. MoHUA has also issued SOP containing procedure to be followed during mechanical and manual cleaning of sewer and septic tanks in November, 2018.

Further,  MoHUA  has  issued  Model  Empanelment  and  Contract documents in June, 2025 to guide Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in engaging Private  Sanitation  Service  Operators  (PSSOs).  This  framework  aims  to establish  clear  legal  and  operational  guidelines  for  delivering  safe, mechanized services in compliance with the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act, 2013.

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Annexure

Statement  referred  to  the  reply  of  the  part  (a)  &  (b)  of  the  Lok  Sabha unstarred  Question  No.  2149  for  12.02.2026  regarding  'ULBS  Equipped with Mechanised Cleaning Equipments'

## State-Wise Progress under SUY as on March 2025

(₹ in lakhs)

|                  | Capital Subsidy to beneficiaries   | Capital Subsidy to beneficiaries   | Capital Subsidy to beneficiaries   | Loans to ULBs by NSKFDC   | Loans to ULBs by NSKFDC        | Loans to ULBs by NSKFDC    |
|------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|------------------------------------|---------------------------|--------------------------------|----------------------------|
| State/SCA/C A    | No. of ULBs                        | No. of Units                       | Capital Subsidy released           | No. of ULBs               | Loan amount Released by NSKFDC | No. Of Equipme nts / Units |
| A & N Islands    | 1                                  | 8                                  | 38.19                              | 0                         | 0.00                           | 0                          |
| Andhra Pradesh   | 28                                 | 239                                | 2886.52                            | 0                         | 0.00                           | 0                          |
| Bihar            | 1                                  | 1                                  | 4.61                               | 1                         | 534.06                         | 21                         |
| Gujarat          | 1                                  | 11                                 | 81.32                              | 0                         | 0.00                           | 0                          |
| Haryana          | 1                                  | 6                                  | 20.78                              | 1                         | 6.12                           | 1                          |
| Jharkhand        | 1                                  | 7                                  | 27.09                              | 0                         | 0.00                           | 0                          |
| Madhya Pradesh   | 3                                  | 119                                | 507.68                             | 15                        | 2601.36                        | 131                        |
| Maharashtra      | 1                                  | 2                                  | 7.90                               | 2                         | 36.08                          | 5                          |
| Odisha           | 2                                  | 9                                  | 62.43                              | 0                         | 0.00                           | 0                          |
| Rajasthan        | 6                                  | 5                                  | 20.60                              | 0                         | 0.00                           | 0                          |
| Tamil Nadu       | 2                                  | 9                                  | 158.84                             | 0                         | 0.00                           | 0                          |
| Telangana        | 6                                  | 23                                 | 191.78                             | 7                         | 231.05                         | 76                         |
| Uttar Pradesh    | 2                                  | 57                                 | 217.87                             | 1                         | 35.46                          | 4                          |
| Puducherry       | 0                                  | 0                                  | 0.00                               | 1                         | 289.34                         | 6                          |
| Uttarakhand      | 0                                  | 0                                  | 0.00                               | 1                         | 550.47                         | 56                         |
| Himachal Pradesh | 0                                  | 0                                  | 0.00                               | 1                         | 22.83                          | 2                          |
| Grand Total      | 55                                 | 496                                | 4225.61                            | 30                        | 4306.77                        | 302                        |