Manual Sewerage cleaning work banned in Haryana: CM

CHANDIGARH, JAN 11

Haryana Chief Minister  Manohar Lal said that in case of death of a sewerman during sewerage cleaning, his family is being given an assistance of Rs.10 lakh. So far, this assistance amount has been given to the families of 57 sewermen across the state. If private companies engaged in cleaning work are reluctant in giving this assistance, then strict action will be taken against them. 

The Chief Minister was presiding over a meeting of the State Monitoring Committee constituted on the Manual Scavenging Act on Tuesday. Cooperation Minister, Sh. Banwari Lal was also present during the meeting.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister directed the Public Health Engineering Department that sewerage cleaning machines should be available in rotation in all municipal corporations and municipalities. He said that old sewers should be cleaned with machines based on similar technology.  Apart from this, sewers should be cleaned with state-of-the-art robotic machines at the places where there is a new sewerage system.

The Chief Minister directed the officers of the Urban Local Bodies Department to form a committee of employees engaged in cleaning work and make arrangements for awarding contracts related to cleanliness. Along with companies and contractors, sewermen should also be given priority so that this class can also benefit.

The Chief Minister said that manual cleaning of sewerage is prohibited throughout the state. The Public Health Engineering Department of the State Government is continuously training the sanitation workers to clean with state-of-the-art equipment. Along with making an Act, a State Monitoring Committee has been constituted to impose a complete ban on manual cleaning. He said that the meeting of this committee should be held on time so that necessary decisions can be taken.

During the meeting, MLA, Bawani Kheda, Sh. Bishambhar Singh, MLA, Narwana, Sh. Ram Niwas, Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Sh. DS Dhesi, Additional Chief Secretary, Development & Panchayats Department, Sh Amit Jha, Principal Secretary, Social Justice & Empowerment Department Sh. Vineet Garg, Principal Secretary, Public Health Engineering Department, Sh. Apoorva Kumar Singh, Managing Director, HSIIDC, Sh. Vikas Gupta, Labour Commissioner, Sh. TL Satyaprakash, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Dr. Amit Agrawal, Chief Administrator, HSVP, Sh. Ajit Balaji Joshi, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Smt. Ashima Brar among others were present.

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