Source: Yojana Magazine
The Swachhta Udyami Yojana extends financial assistance for Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Pay and Use Community Toilets in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Mode and Procurement and Operation of Sanitation related Vehicles. It was launched by The National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC), an Apex Corporation of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 2nd October 2014.
Goal
The goal of the scheme is to facilitate a decent livelihood to Safai Karamcharis and liberated Manual Scavengers through financial assistance by involving them in Construction, Operation and Maintenance of Pay and Use Community Toilets and Procurement and Operation of Sanitation related Vehicles.
Objectives
It has twin objective of cleanliness and providing a livelihood to Safai Karamcharis and liberated Manual Scavengers to achieve the overall goal of “Swachh Bharat Abhiyan”
Construction, Operation, and Maintenance of Pay and Use Community Toilets
- Provision of easy accessibility of the community latrines to the households (not having any such facilities in their houses) and for the floating population in public places with high footfall e.g. bus stands, railway stations, markets, etc.
- To ensure proper maintenance of the facilities, so created, by the entrepreneurs, who would have a stake in this venture.
- To prevent the necessity of manual scavenging.
Procurement & Operation of Sanitation related Vehicles
- To create appropriate infrastructure for tapping the underutilized potential.
- To create facilities for the collection of garbage from the source.
- To create employment opportunities for the target group of safai karamcharis /manual scavengers.
Other key features
- Under the Scheme, entrepreneurs among safai karmacharis and identified manual scavengers can avail loan upto defined ceiling at concessional rate of interest @ 4% per annum. In the case of women beneficiaries, there is a rebate of 1% in the rate of interest charged.
- No State/ Union Territory wise budget allocations are made under the Scheme as funds are to be provided to the channelizing agencies on the basis of the proposals received from them.
