Rural Environment and Development

Management (REDM)
Quiz Write-up on social schemes

Submitted By- Ratna Priya Singh, 19F084

Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual
Scavengers (SRMS)

Objective
To assist the manual scavengers, identified during various surveys, for their
rehabilitation in alternative occupations.

Background
Manual scavenging refers to the practice of manually cleaning, carrying, disposing
or handling in any manner, human excreta from dry latrines and sewers. Despite
banning it years ago through a law, technological advancements increasing
sensitivity to human rights, manual scavenging persists in India. There are over
1.8 lakhs manual scavenging households1. There are several reasons to that, few
of them are mentioned here:

1. Manual scavenging persists mainly because of the continued presence of

insanitary latrines.
2. It is strongly connected to the caste system.
3. Lack of support by society to eliminate this most inhuman profession.
4. Lack of education and humanity which is missing in many parts of India.
5. Data show the manual scavengers reluctance to take up self-employment.
6. Community mindset – Many communities still regard the inclusion of a
sanitary toilet as ritual.

The challenges faced by them includes lack of safety equipment and risk of
exposure to harmful chemical gases and infectious viruses and bacteria due to
which most of the manual scavengers die before 60. There are among poorest
of the poor which exposes them to other vulnerabilities.

1
Socio-Economic and Caste census (SECC) in 2015
About the Scheme
SRMS was launched in 2007 by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
later monitored for its implementation by National Safai Karmcharis Finance and
Development Corporation (NSKFDC). It is a successor to NSLRS (National
Scheme for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers and their Dependents).
With an objective of rehabilitating the remaining manual scavengers and their
dependents in alternative occupations by March, 2009 but this could not be done
by the target date, the Scheme was extended up to March, 2010. Later The
Central Sector Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers
(SRMS) has been revised under the “Prohibition of Employment as Manual
Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013” effective from Nov., 2013. They
are also identified by National Handicapped Finance & Development Corporation
for training and self-employment scheme for rehabilitation.

Under this scheme they have been provided One Time Cash Assistance (OTCA)
of Rs.40000. The release of funds for providing OTCA however, has been slow.
A majority of these disbursements (68 per cent) were made in FY 2015-16. In
FY 2016-17, only 12 per cent of the identified manual scavengers had been
provided OTCA and in FY 2017-18 till 4 January 2018, 8 per cent of identified
manual scavengers had been provided assistance.2 Other than OTCA, several
self-employment projects and training and development skills for two years with
stipend of Rs.3000 per month are organized in several states out of which Uttar
Pradesh accounts for 55% of all projects sanctioned but 36% of total subsidy
was given. Punjab has highest training programs. A compensation of 10 Lakhs
Rupees is provided to the family of manual scavenger if the death is caused by
sewage cleaning.

2
Lok Sabha / Budget Briefs SRMS 2018-19
Current Status
 Only 6% of the total identified manual scavengers have been imparted skill
development training in the last two years. Similarly, one time cash
assistance has been provided to only 2% of them.3
 Despite a large number of schemes and provisions, the inhuman practice
of manual scavenging still continues.
 The National Safai Karmachari Commission has not been functioning
properly. Its website has not been updated about recent developments and
initiatives.
 Protective gears such as gloves, gas masks, and boots are often not
provided by employers, in violation of the 2013 Act. This resulted in
diseases and even deaths. There is no proper accountability mechanism
in place.
 The Act allows manual scavenging if the employer provides protective gear.
However, the Act doesn’t define what constitutes protective gear =
employers exploit this provision.
 Municipalities don’t have enough funds to use machines for cleaning the
sewers and also to provide safety gear. Also, they generally blame
contractors for any loss of life.
 States and UTs are slow in the identification of insanitary latrines and
manual scavengers since there is no time-bound plan for doing that.

3
Standing committee on social justice and empowerment (2019-20)
One Stop Centre Scheme (OSC)

Objective
The objectives of the OSC Scheme are:

 To provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by

violence, both in private and public spaces under one roof.
 To facilitate immediate, emergency and non - emergency access to a range
of services including medical, legal, psychological and counselling support
under one roof to fight against any forms of violence against women.

Background
There are several manifestations of gender-based violence in India. They not only
include the universally prevalent forms of domestic and sexual violence like rape,
sexual harassment, child sexual abuse, but also trafficking for commercial sexual
exploitation, harmful practices such as honor killings, dowry, child marriage, acid
attacks, witch hunting, sex-selective abortion, etc. For the purpose to address
such violence and help women in distress, a centrally sponsored scheme by the
Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), for setting up a One-Stop
Centre has been formulated by the Government.4

About the Scheme

Under the Sakhi – OSC Scheme, centres have been created that offer integrated
services like medical, legal, psycho-social support and temporary shelter under
one roof. They also provide the necessary support to women facing physical,
sexual, emotional, psychological and economic abuse where they are facilitated
with support and redressal irrespective of age, class, caste, education status,
marital status, race and culture. By dialing a Women’s toll-free helpline 181, any

4
WCD
woman in an adverse situation or someone on her behalf can seek help from
the Sakhi Centre 24X7. Timeline of implementation of OSC Scheme:

 Nirbhaya Fund was established for women safety.

 One Stop Crisis Centres were recommended to be established by the 12th
Plan Working Group on Women’s Agency and Empowerment.
 In 2013, Usha Mehra Commission submitted a report stating the need of
One-Stop Centre at a notified hospital to help a victim of sexual assault.
 In 2015, One Stop Centre scheme was implemented.
 OSC have been established across the country in a phased manner:
o Phase I – 1 One Stop Centre per state/UT
o Phase II – 150 additional OSCs in 2016-17
 As of July 2020 data, 645 OSCs5 have been set up. Highest number of
OSCs:
o Uttar Pradesh - 75
o Madhya Pradesh – 51

Current Status
The Sakhi Scheme from the year of its launch in 2015, has been approached
by 1,90,000 plus women.6 One of the stated objectives within the scheme was
that of emergency response. However, the functioning of this has not been
speedy enough, where7 victims have reported long waiting hours at every step
of the process. The second objective of providing counselling and legal aid
among other facilities have also not been amounted to satisfactory levels. Apart
from failing to achieve the stated objectives, the scheme faces a lot of set-backs
in its design.

5
Indianstats.com
6
2019
7
A case of Haryana
In light of the 2019 gangrape in Telangana, which incited a media frenzy and
public outrage, the Sakhi scheme was brought to the limelight for scrutiny.
However, based on the anecdotal evidence, these centres have proven to be
virtually non-existent8. It was reported that the Sakhi scheme lacked a digital
presence, where the centre appeared to be non- existent on the popular
navigation application – Google Maps, which serves to be a primary navigation
tool relied on especially in an urban city like Hyderabad. The report also
highlighted the fact that the nearest centre was 20 km away from the city.

The biggest problem stated by many, concerning this scheme is that of lack of
awareness, which is really important for such scheme who’s functioning and
effectiveness depends on the reach to its target population. The problem with
this design is that first-degree awareness has also not been reached. More
investment needs to be made towards spreading awareness of the existence of
the scheme and its services using media and other public campaigns as a tool.

As per the policy evaluation, recommendations for better effectiveness include

an implementation of public-private partnerships wherever possible. The reason
for this being, the resources pooled, that of monetary and the consumer base of
private firms, together will guarantee a higher reach where more funds should be
allocated for the spread of awareness of this scheme. Vodafone, for example,
launched an application dedicated to women’s safety. The case study showed
that this initiative had a positive impact on the brand (GSMA, 2019). Thus,
showing a benefit to both stakeholders.

The ease of access to these centres needs to be maximised in terms of

segmented population, where, in the urban-metropolitan cities, a larger digital
presence needs to exist. This could again be obtained by partnering with transport

8
Priyanka Richi
organizations and companies like Ola and Uber, or any riding facilities and
enabling an option within these applications.

A third recommendation would be to ensure more efficiency in terms of

functioning, which although is harder to achieve than the other policy
recommendations. However, well-qualified professionals, who are made to undergo
strict training and desensitization workshops before they begin their work could
ensure better participation.

The Sakhi OSC scheme, in essence, appears to be a failure in terms of its failed
objectives, lack of reach to its target population and lack of ease of access.
Admittedly, the policy evaluation was carried out using media reports and not
empirical research, yet, the lack of research in this field is cue enough of the
lack of awareness and coverage on this scheme. Moreover, the lack of proper
implementation has deemed the scheme ineffective, to say the least. That being
said, what began as a good policy initiative and turned into a bad implementation
still has scope to be tweaked considering how the scheme has only been in
function for the last four years.