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‘Loan mela’ organised to equip Ludhiana sewermen with modern machinery evokes low response from informal sector
The fair is being organised to stop manual scavenging in the city by providing loans to sanitation workers to purchase machinery/equipment
The first “loan mela” organised by the municipal corporation (MC) on Thursday under the ”Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge” started by the ministry of housing and urban affairs received a tepid response from the informal sector due to high prices of machinery exhibited during the event.
The fair is being organised to stop manual scavenging in the city by providing loans to sanitation workers to purchase machinery/equipment.
The event was organised at the indoor stadium, Pakhowal Road and inaugurated by mayor Balkar Sandhu and municipal commissioner Pardeep Sabharwal. As many as 20 companies exhibited their products during the event and most of them had put machinery worth lakhs on display.
Apart from the informal sector, the officials of different urban local bodies (ULB) of Amritsar, Mohali, Malout and Jagraon also participated in the event.
During the event, MoHUA officials said MC will also be providing work assurance to the sewermen so that they can pay back the loan to the banks.
A consultant working with MoHUA, Pooja Saini said, “The loans are being provided by the National Safai Karamchari Finance Development Corporation (NSKFDC). While urban local bodies can avail a loan of up to Rs 50 lakh, those working in the informal sector can get Rs 5 lakh. The loans are being provided at 4% interest rate and have to be paid back in instalments in 10 years. The interest rate will be further reduced to 3% for women”
Mayor Balkar Sandhu said, “This given an opportunity to the sewermen involved in the informal sector to equip themselves with modern machinery as loans are also being provided by the banks. MC will also be purchasing the required machinery in the coming time and the officials were told to make a list of requirements so that manual scavenging can be stopped.”
However, workers of the informal sector said that it is not feasible for them to purchase the machinery or avail a loan for the same, due to the high cost.
Ankit, a private sewermen who works in ward number 81, said , “The minimum cost of machinery put on display during the “loan mela” was around Rs 3 lakh. No private sewerman can purchase it on their own. Even if a loan is provided, how can we pay it back.”
Ankit said only a contractor or MC can purchase the machinery because they deal at a large scale.
Vasu, a sewerman who works in ward number 91, said, “We also want to work safely as accidents have taken place in the past wherein people have even lost their lives while cleaning the sewer lines. But, MC should provide the equipment at nominal rates.”
With an eye on the first prize of Rs 12 crore under the category of the population over 10 lakhs, the civic body had stepped into the ”Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge” which was launched by the Centre in November last year.
MC WITHOUT SAFETY KITS FOR ITS OWN EMPLOYEES
While MC is working to equip the informal sector, the civic body itself is struggling to provide safety kits to its sewermen.
One of the officials, requesting anonymity, said that around 1,600 sewermen work in the MC, but few are provided safety kits. The authorities are planning to purchase them but no final decision has been taken so far.
