SafaiMitra Surakshit Shehar: Towards Action and Implementation

#WebPolicyLearning | A Two Day Immersive Online Capacity Building 
Certificate Training Program on SafaiMitra Surakshit Shehar: Towards Action and Implementation | SMM(U) 2.0 and IMPRI

On the occasion of India@75: Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav
Towards India@100

Maharashtra Urban Development Mission Directorate 
Swachh Maharashtra Mission (Urban) and 
#IMPRI Center for Habitat, Urban and Regional Studies (CHURS), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi, invites you to #WebPolicyLearning –

A Two Day Immersive Online Capacity Building 
Certificate Training Program on

सफाई मित्र सुरक्षित शहर
SafaiMitra Surakshit Shehar:
Towards Action and Implementation

Dates: January 6-7, 2023
Time: 4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. IST
Platform: Zoom
Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RmxQwGguRoKPRFscAZKMEg

Background

India, in its endeavour to achieve health, hygiene, and cleanliness along with universal sanitation coverage, launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) (SBM-U) or Clean India Mission in 2014 on the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation – Mahatma Gandhi (October 2), as a national movement. To ameliorate urban sanitation infrastructure, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart City Mission were also set in motion.

On World Toilet Day 2020, the SafariMitra Suraksha Challenge was launched. This major initiative under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is a leap forward towards achieving zero fatalities and putting a mechanised design and practise in place to deal with human waste. The various urban local bodies were challenged to eradicate hazardous cleaning, promoting mechanised cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. Capacity building and empowerment of SafaiMitra have featured as top priorities; thus, this initiative holds immense value.

In August this year, Urban India recommitted itself to ensuring all sanitation workers’ safety, dignity, and security. For the first time, 500 cities across India have declared themselves “SafaiMitra Surakshit Shehar“. In doing so, they have established that the cities can achieve adequacy in terms of institutional capacity, manpower, and equipment norms as stipulated by MoHUA and are providing safe working conditions for SafaiMitras. The ‘SafaiMitra Surakshit Shehar’ declaration by 500 cities aligns with SBM-U’s long standing goal of promoting sustainable sanitation practices and acting as a catalyst for turning every ‘manhole’ into a ‘machine hole’.

Augmenting the ongoing efforts towards mechanisation and the safety of workers, MoHUA and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) jointly launched the ‘NAMASTE’ (National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem) Scheme, this year, to enhance occupational safety, improve access to safety gears and machines, provide skilled-wage opportunities, and focus on continuous capacity building while breaking the intergenerationality of sanitation work. 

MoHUA is committed to ensuring that all Indian cities declare themselves as ‘SafaiMitra Surkashit Shehar’ by March 2024, along with ensuring ‘Zero Fatalities in Sanitation Work’.

Course Structure

This workshop would be conducted by eminent experts, government officials and would attract the interest of a host of participants and relevant stakeholders, with a two-pronged focus on engaging through dialogue, and solving pressing development challenges with a focus on solutions, communications and resource sharing.

The course will be spread over two days with live sessions of 2.5 hours. Following which there will be a follow up session after a week for effective communications and dialogue. Post this, a week of hand holding via email and phone will be available for resource sharing, hand holding and guidance.

A comprehensive compiled reading resource will be shared with the participants.The high-impact program is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of ‘what and how’ of solid and liquid waste management that will equip on-ground practitioners with accurate toolkit and holistic knowledge to achieve sustainable solutions in the urban landscape. 

The course will provide the attendants with appropriate knowledge related to correct methods and procedures to maintain the sanitation, drainage  and stormwater management, faecal sludge management and sewage and septic tank management.

The course is in complete accordance with the national framework of Swachh Bharat Mission – Urban 2.0 under which capacity building is an integral part of the programme. The course is designed for practitioners employed or are working in cities listed by Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation.

For whom 

The program is curated for principal stakeholders and solid waste management practitioners which are: Sanitation Workers and Inspectors, Executive/Administrative Officials, Municipal Engineers/Technicians and Civil Society members, Companies, Practitioners and members from relevant organisations.

Upon successful completion of the program, each participant will be awarded a Certificate of Completion.

Convenors:

Shri Sameer Unhale
Mission Director at Maharashtra Urban Development Mission Directorate Swachh Maharashtra Mission (Urban) and Visiting Senior Fellow at IMPRI

Shri Tikender Singh Panwar
Former Deputy Mayor, Shimla

Dr Arjun Kumar
Director, IMPRI

Dr Simi Mehta
CEO and Editorial Director, IMPRI

Moderator:

Dr Soumyadip Chattopadhyay
Associate Professor, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan; Senior Fellow, IMPRI