Latest news with #NAMASTE
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Big comedian turns the tables on locals ahead of upcoming gig
Comedian and actor Omid Djalili has taken to social media in an attempt to find out what Swindon locals really think of their hometown. The stand-up comic is set to bring his new show, NAMASTE, to Swindon when he performs at the Wyvern Theatre on Thursday, June 26. But before he makes the trip to the town, Omid is on the hunt for the inside jokes within the Swindon community that could end up being a hit on stage. He posed the question in a community Facebook group: "What's funny about life in Swindon that only locals understand?" Responses so far may not have given the comedian much to work with on his search for material ahead of his Swindon gig, with commenters largely choosing to share their thoughts on the town centre. Recommended reading Town centre homes left without water after pipe bursts Public urged to not approach wanted man who may be in Wiltshire Man found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on same night out Omid last performed in Swindon as part of his nationwide tour of his previous stand-up show The Good Times in February 2022. Tickets for his upcoming performance are available from £34 via A description of the show states: "The Persian Comedy Powerhouse performs his critically acclaimed new show NAMASTE where Omid peacefully bows to his inner anger and unleashes a torrent of comedic vitriol upon the current state of this dangerously messed up planet. "No government gets a green card. No tyrant avoids a take down. No audience member leaves the theatre with an ounce of laughter left in them. You have been warned."
NDTV
5 days ago
- Health
- NDTV
Passerby Jumps In To Save 3 Workers Trapped In Septic Tank, All 4 Killed
New Delhi: Three workers and a passerby who jumped in to help them have died of suffocation after inhaling toxic gases in a septic tank in Odisha. The tragedy occurred when sanitation workers were removing the central slab of a newly constructed septic tank, measuring about 10×10 feet, at Padalguda village in Nandahandi block of Nabarangpur district on Tuesday. Local residents said two of the workers began to suffocate soon after they entered the septic tank. A third worker rushed in to try and rescue them, but he began asphyxiating too. Hearing their screams, a passerby jumped in to try and save them. Fire department personnel arrived after they were alerted and pulled all four people out of the tank. The three workers were declared dead on reaching the Nabarangpur District Headquarters Hospital while the passerby was admitted to the intensive care unit, but could not be saved. Local residents said the workers did not have safety equipment or oxygen support and entered the tank without any protection. A police official said, "We have begun an investigation. Forensic tests and the post-mortem reports will reveal the exact cause of the death and the nature of the gases they inhaled." The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment data, in a nationwide exercise, has identified 79,700 sewer and septic tank workers (SSWs), showing India's continued dependence on this form of hazardous manual labour. The exercise is part of the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) programme, which is aimed at mechanising all sewer-related works to prevent injuries and deaths. The NAMASTE programme was launched in 2023-24, replacing the Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers. In a written reply in Parliament in 2023, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale had said 453 people had died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in five years, since 2018.
Hindustan Times
31-05-2025
- Hindustan Times
Centre's NAMASTE scheme nears 2 years; 91,000 sanitation workers identified
New Delhi: Approximately 80,000 sewer and septic tank workers (SSWs) and 11,000 waste pickers have been identified nationwide as the Centre's NAMASTE (National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem) scheme approaches its second anniversary in July, senior officials confirmed. A study group assessing the scheme's impact is expected to submit its report by December. 'We have formed a study group to assess the impact of NAMASTE, the surveying is going on in a mission mode. 80,000 SSWs have already been validated along with approx 11,000 waste pickers,' a senior official told Hindustan Times. The official described the process as 'laborious and large,' citing challenges like ensuring 'illegal immigrants engaged in such work especially waste picking are not included in the profiling and validation.' Internal Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment data reveals the nationwide validation drive has identified 79,700 SSWs, underscoring India's continued reliance on this hazardous manual labour. Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number (11,700), followed by Maharashtra (7,649), Tamil Nadu (6,975), and Karnataka (6,307). Other states with significant validated workers include Gujarat (5,436), Punjab (4,407), Andhra Pradesh (4,036), Delhi (3,626), Jammu & Kashmir (709), and Puducherry (243). The profiling, conducted under the NAMASTE programme, aims to mechanise all sewer work and prevent deaths from hazardous cleaning. Launched in 2023-24, NAMASTE replaced the Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS). The Union government asserts that manual scavenging as a practice has ended, distinguishing it technically from hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act. The ministry official also told HT that the ministry is in 'constant touch' with the Supreme Court and has made multiple attempts in explaining the difference between manual scavenging and sewer and septic tank cleaning. The Supreme Court in January this year had ordered a complete ban on manual scavenging and sewer cleaning in six major metropolitan cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. However, the ministry maintains that there is no manual scavenging practice (the act of picking and cleaning human excreta) and has asked the court to take a note of the same. Surveying faces multiple barriers. 'One of the biggest problems... is that several illegal immigrants are also engaged in the occupation with many of them also having fake aadhar cards and identities so its tough to profile and validate them,' the official noted. The ministry has incorporated verification questions about residency duration and permanent address. Other issues include low saturation of Ayushman Bharat health cards and mechanisation. While 45,871 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and 354 safety device kits have been distributed, only 28,447 Ayushman cards have been issued, attributed to 'verification' problems. The ministry official stated the target is 'complete saturation' by the end of August. A December report by the Parliament's Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment also highlighted concerns. It noted NAMASTE's aims include 'zero fatalities in sanitation work in India,' ensuring 'all sanitation work is performed by formalized skilled workers,' and that 'no sanitation workers come in direct contact with human faecal matter.' However, the Committee found the Department 'lagging behind in this regard as several instances of death of unskilled sanitation workers due to negligence/ non-availability of safety equipments are reported every year in the press.' 'There is utmost need for capacity building of sanitation workers by enhancing their occupational skills,' the Committee had said. It had urged the Department to 'ensure that all the sanitation workers are adequately trained' and to 'conduct comprehensive campaign to increase awareness amongst sanitation service seekers to obtain services for cleaning of sewer septic tanks from trained SSWs.' The Committee also directed that 'minimum wages may be ensured for SSWs and the State/UT Governments may be suitably directed to ensure that SSWs get minimum wages prescribed.'
The Hindu
26-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Thrust on modernising solid waste disposal and sanitary worker safety, says CM
The government is prioritising modernisation of solid waste disposal measures and improving the health safety of sanitary workers while maintaining a clean Puducherry, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy said on Monday. Inaugurating a skill development workshop for sanitation workers on preventing hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks in urban local bodies under the joint auspices of the Oulgaret Municipality and Genrobotic Innovations firm, Mr. Rangasamy said identifying a landfill for accumulating solid waste collected from across the city had been a vexed issue as residents objected to dumping of garbage anywhere near their neighbourhoods. This had necessitated the advocacy of a zero-waste policy with an industry-scale and technology-driven approach to solid waste disposal and efforts were now aimed at the same-day disposal of collected and segregated waste at the Kurumbapet landfill. The workshop was held under the NAMASTE (National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem) central sector scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment aimed at ensuring the dignity, safety, and social and economic empowerment of sanitation workers, specifically those engaged in cleaning sewers and septic tanks. Noting that many sanitation sector workers died young, the Chief Minister said in cognisance of the hazardous nature of their work, the government has been providing jobs to the next of kin on compassionate grounds of employees of municipalities and commune panchayats. Soon, jobs would be provided on compassionate grounds to the next of kin from around 200 families of the Pondicherry Municipality, he said. The Chief Minister said the underground sewerage network was being expanded and the process of treating-discharging sewage has reached more areas. An estimated 90% of the work is over. Work is also under way to repair blockages in the underground sewers in the city. When such blockages occur and are repaired, there is a risk of toxic gas attack on the sanitation workers. The administration was keen to adopt new innovations such as robotic machines to sewage extraction and removing blockages in underground sewers to reduce health risk to humans, he said. Mr. Rangasamy also called for adequate protective gear to be provided to sanitary workers who are engaged on a contractual basis. The municipal authorities need to ensure this, he said. K. Lakshminarayanan, Public Works Minister, AK Sai J. Saravanankumar, Adi Dravidar Welfare Minister, Prabhat Kumar Singh, Managing Director, National SafaiKaramchari Finance Development Corporation (NSKFDC), A. Suresh Raj, Oulgaret Commissioner, and Rashid K., Director of Genroboic Innovations, participated. Later, during the awareness sessions on the occupational hazards involved in cleaning sewage and septic tanks. a demonstration was given on engaging a robot for cleaning operations, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and the safe use of PPE equipment such as gloves, face mask and toxic gas leak detector.
The Hindu
13-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
‘Savukku' Shankar moves Madras HC seeking CBI probe into alleged scam in manual scavenging eradication schemes
YouTuber 'Savukku' Shankar, alias A. Shankar, has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition before the Madras High Court, seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged illegalities in the implementation of entrepreneurship schemes for manual scavengers. The PIL plea is expected to be listed before the summer vacation Bench of Justices G.R. Swaminathan and M. Nirmal Kumar on Wednesday (May 14, 2025). The petitioner had sought a direction to the CBI to register a First Information Report (FIR) based on his March 27, 2025, complaint. In his affidavit, the petitioner said, the Centre had introduced the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) and the Tamil Nadu government had come up with the Annal Ambedkar Business Champions Scheme (AABCS) in 2023 to eradicate manual scavenging. The idea behind these schemes was to introduce mechanised solutions, such as automated jetting and suction machines, by offering bank loans with capital subsidies and interest subvention to manual scavengers for the purchase of sanitation-related equipment. According to the official guidelines and modalities of AABCS, the scheme should be implemented by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) department of the State government through the Industries Commissioner and Director of Industries and Commerce (ICDIC), the petitioner claimed. He further claimed that the implementation responsibilities were, however, illegally and arbitrarily delegated to the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DICCI), a private entity registered with the Registrar of Companies, and it had led to misappropriation of crores of rupees. Accusing Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K. Selvaperunthagai of having played a major role in this, the petitioner claimed that a huge amount of public money, meant for empowering sanitation workers, had not reached the real beneficiaries due to the illegalities. The petitioner alleged that most of the beneficiaries recommended by DICCI were members of the Congress party's Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Wing, and they did not belong to Below the Poverty Line (BPL) category to be eligible for the disbursement of loans under the entrepreneurship schemes. Claiming to have made a complaint in this regard with the CBI, the petitioner sought a direction to the central investigation agency to register a FIR and conduct a thorough and independent investigation into the illegalities allegedly committed under NAMASTE as well as AABCS before filing the final report. The petitioner also stated that his residence was vandalised after he exposed the alleged illegalities on his YouTube channel and that some hooligans, wearing the jackets of sanitary workers, dumped sewage mixed with human faeces in his house when his aged mother was alone at home.
