Union Minister of State Ramdas Athawale during the Budget Session of Parliament. File | Photo credit: PTI/Sansad TV
The Union government has not yet identified any measurable indicators to show increased efficiency or productivity resulting from the mechanization of sewage and septic tank cleaning, the Lok Sabha said on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) in response to a question on the progress of Mission NAMASTE to mechanize sanitation work across the country and prevent deaths due to unsafe cleaning.
The government added that it has no information on the increase in income among sanitation workers since the mission began in 2023-24.
In response to another question, the government said that since 2017, 622 people have died across India due to unsafe cleaning. She added that in 2025, the National Commission for Safai Karmacharis received 842 complaints from sanitation workers about “non-payment of wages, denial of safety equipment and discrimination on the basis of caste”.
The impact of the NAMASTE mission
The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was responding to numerous queries regarding the progress of the National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) and the status of persons employed in cleaning drains and septic tanks.
Responding to a question by Janata Dal (United) MP Dileshwar Kamait, Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale said that more than 89,000 Sewerage and Septic Tank Workers (SSW) have been identified and verified by various municipal bodies in the country under this programme. Parliament data from December 2025 showed that 85,473 sets of PPE were distributed and more than 71,000 of them were included in Ayushman Bharat.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is also involved in the funding of waste water treatment operations in urban local authorities with a population of up to 1,000,000, including support for mechanization of sewers and cleaning of septic tanks. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, launched in 2021, the Center has earmarked ₹15,926 crore for this, with action plans approved for projects worth ₹13,699 crore.
No productivity indicators
In response to Mr. Kamait’s direct question as to whether there are indicators of increased efficiency or increased productivity due to this mechanization plan, the minister said: “No measurable indicators have yet been identified to show increased efficiency or productivity due to mechanization.” Similarly, the government said it had no information about any increase in the income of sanitation workers.
In response to another question by Samajwadi Party MP Iqr Choudhary, the government said that since 2017, more than 600 people have died due to unsafe cleaning of drains and septic tanks, of which 539 families have been paid full compensation, while 52 families have not received any compensation.
“Not based on caste”
Ms Choudhary also asked about steps taken by the government to remove the “inter-generational caste” nature of the occupation, to which Mr Athawale insisted that sewer and septic tank cleaning jobs were “occupational”, not caste.
Parliament data from December 2024 showed that among the sewerage and septic workers profiled under NAMASTE till then, 91.95% were from SC, ST and OBC backgrounds, while about 8.05% were from general category communities. Later, a census of waste pickers under the same scheme showed that as of February this year, 84.5% of the pickers across the country were from SC/ST and OBC communities and 10.7% from general category communities.
Published – 17 March 2026 20:33 IST
