Because of the continued occurrence of manual scavenging deaths in Bengaluru city, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) in a meeting held on 12.07.2019 under the Chairpersonship of the Additional Chief Secretary, was tasked with providing training to sanitation workers engaged in cleaning private Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs), open drains, gutters, manholes using private Sucking and Jetting Machines etc. including the 202 persons who had been identified by BBMP as manual scavengers in 2013.
An advertisement was issued inviting applications for the trainings. Safaikarmachari Kavulu Samithi-Karnataka assisted the Karnataka State Safaikarmachari Commission in identifying the participants for the trainings. So far, 177 workers have been trained as part of 3 batches. At the end of training, the participants were given certificates and BWSSB, Karnataka State Safaikarmachari Development Corporation and Karnataka State Safaikarmachari Commission will come up with a scheme to facilitate employment opportunities to the trained workers.
Details of Trainings being provided by BWSSB to Sanitation Workers
| Batch | Dates | No. of Participants | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 – 30 Nov 2019 | 38 | 37 | 1 |
| 2 | 9 – 21 Dec 2019 | 75 | 72 | 3 |
| 3 | 6 – 18 Jan 2020 | 64 | 64 | 0 |
| Total | 177 | 173 | 4 |
