Plan drawn up for welfare of safai karamcharis: Mareppa

Officials have been directed to identify eligible beneficiaries

S. Mareppa, chairperson of Karnataka Safai Karamchari Development Corporation, chairing a review meeting at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Udupi on Thursday.

S. Mareppa, chairperson of the Karnataka Safai Karamchari Development Corporation, said on Thursday the State government had drawn up a ₹85-crore action plan for the comprehensive welfare of safai karamcharis.

He was presiding over a review meeting of district-level officers at the Deputy Commissioner’s office, here.

Mr. Mareppa directed the officers to identify the eligible beneficiaries for this purpose.

Safai karamcharis included not just civic workers but also those who worked in other government departments and private organizations. The safai karamcharis working in the private organizations should be given identity cards, he said.

Compared to other districts in the State, Udupi had lesser issues of sanitation. There were no manual scavenging and separate colonies for safai karamcharis here. Yet the district had remained behind in identifying the safai karamcharis, he said.

The safai karamcharis were being provided various facilities through the Ambedkar Development Corporation.

Nearly 1.45 lakh had been identified as safai karamcharis in the entire State. It is estimated that there must be about 2.5 lakh safai karamcharis in the State.

The Safai Karamchari Development Corporation had several schemes for the welfare of the safai karamcharis including development of colonies, skill enhancement, entrepreneurship development, direct loans scheme and housing scheme.

It was only through education that the future of the children of the safai karmacharis could be changed for the better. Hence there was 5% reservation for their children in elite private schools.

It was the responsibility of the officers of the Departments of Public Instruction and Social Welfare to ensure that this facility was made available to the children of the safai karamcharis, he said.

It was incumbent upon the local bodies to provide Provident Fund (PF) facility for the civic workers, if there was any lapse in this, the officers of the local bodies would be held responsible.

There were complaints about PF facility not being properly made available to civic workers in some urban local bodies in Udupi district. Executive Officers should coordinate with the officers of PF Department and ensure that the civic workers got their PF properly, Mr. Mareppa said.

G. Anuradha, Additional Deputy Commissioner, and other officers were present.