Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has decided to provide ownership-based houses to sanitation workers across the state, in addition to service accommodation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday, adding that the initiative has already begun.
Speaking at a key handover programme for newly constructed staff quarters at Panchsheel Nagar in Colaba, Fadnavis said sanitation workers, who often neglect their own health while maintaining public hygiene, deserved decent and spacious housing.
140 Residential Units Inaugurated Under Ashray Yojana
The Chief Minister inaugurated a project comprising 140 residential units constructed under Phase II of the Ashray Yojana. The building is the Mumbai civic body's first structure to be constructed using prefabricated technology, which has so far largely been adopted for large private buildings.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, Mayor Ritu Tawde, Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi, corporators Makarand Narwekar and Harshita Narwekar, and Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide were among those present.
Housing Schemes For Sanitation Workers
Fadnavis said the government had introduced the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Shram Safalya Yojana and the Valmiki Housing Scheme for sanitation workers. Under the service accommodation arrangement, the quarters allotted to an employee are transferred to his son if he joins the civic body in his father's place. The government aims to provide service accommodation to sanitation workers by 2028, he said.
He added that the newly constructed building had been equipped with common facilities and that providing decent housing to sanitation workers was the responsibility of the government.
Lad-Page Committee Recommendations Revived
Referring to the Lad-Page Committee, Fadnavis said it was constituted in 1973, but its functioning was subsequently discontinued due to certain difficulties. The government revived the committee through a fresh resolution in 2015 and implemented the hereditary appointment system, he said.
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The government has also decided to provide Class III jobs to children of sanitation workers who fulfil the required educational qualifications. Fadnavis said the government had won the legal battle to implement the committee's recommendations.
Minimum Wages And Facilities For Workers
He further said that sanitation workers employed on contractual, daily-wage and substitute (Aivajdar) arrangements would also be provided minimum wages and necessary facilities, in line with the government's decision.
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