Sweeping Change In Category & Pay For Core Sanitation Workers In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: In a much deserved move, the Odisha government has upgraded the employment category of core sanitation workers to “skilled” and “highly skilled” for their dignity.

The government will also provide a risk and hardship allowance to them in recognition of their hazardous nature of work Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water, Law, Housing & Urban Development Minister Pratap Jena said on Friday.

The Labour and Employees State Insurance Department has also notified the change in category as well as appropriate wages and compensation for the sanitation workers under the government’s Garima scheme.

Notably, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had launched the scheme in September 2020.

According to the notification, the workers involved in desludging of onsite sanitation systems, maintenance of sewer network, cleaning of inspection chambers and cleaning and maintenance of septic tanks will be designated as highly skilled workers.

Those cleaning of drains, operating and maintaining public and community toilets and operating and managing Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTPs) will be tagged as skilled worker.

This would entail a minimum wage of Rs 461 for the ‘highly skilled’ sanitation workers and Rs 401 for their ‘skilled’ counterparts.

In addition to their pay, the sanitation workers now will get 15% of their wages as remuneration in recognition of the risky, hazardous and arduous nature of work assigned to them, the minister added.

“With this initiative of the government, the core sanitation workers will finally earn the much-deserved title of a skilled/highly skilled worker and a compensation which better appreciates their efforts in making our cities healthy and clean, thereby paving way to build ‘Swachha Odisha Sustha Odisha’ (Clean Odisha Healthy Odisha),” Jena added.