Odisha Garima Scheme:- On Friday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik introduced GARIMA, a new program to protect the safety and dignity of the state’s core sanitation workers. About 20,000 core sanitation employees and their families representing a population of 20,000 will likely benefit from this program. The Scheme would be implemented in all 114 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) in Odisha, along with the establishment of a State Commission for Core Sanitation Workers and a dedicated corpus fund with an initial budget of Rs. 50 crore.
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About Odisha Garima Scheme 2024
The state administration, which is led by CM Naveen Patnaik, has introduced the Odisha Garima Scheme 2024. The government of Odisha will offer incentives under this program to 1 lakh sanitation employees and their families, totaling over 20,000 crores. The safety and dignity of the core sanitation employees will be guaranteed by this plan. Additionally, a special corpus fund would be established, starting with Rs. 50 crore.
In order to provide workers and their families with social security and financial advantages, this plan would institutionalize and regulate basic sanitary services. There will also be established the State Commission for Core Sanitation Workers in addition to the Odisha Garima Scheme 2024. All 114 of the state of Odisha’s Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) will adopt the Garima Scheme. On September 11, 2020, this program was introduced. The goal of this plan is to eliminate manual scavenging, which puts scavengers at risk for a variety of accidents.
Odisha Garima Scheme Details in Highlights
| Name | Odisha Garima Scheme |
| Introduced by | Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik |
| State | Odisha |
| Beneficiaries | State’s core sanitation workers |
| Objective | to protect the safety and dignity of the state’s core sanitation workers |
Objectives of Scheme
The Garima Scheme for manual scavengers is a pioneering effort by any Indian state. This program is being introduced to offer a complete package that includes:
- Providing advantages at the service level
- Establishing institutions and rules for the essential sanitary services
- Financial advantages for families of manual scavengers.
- Increased emphasis on compliance with state and federal laws’ statutory requirements
- To offer social security benefits to families and key sanitation personnel.
- The program would help roughly 20,000 core sanitation employees and their families, who together make up about 1 lakh people.
Odisha Garima Scheme Benefits for Sanitation Workers
Through a state-wide survey, the scheme seeks to identify essential sanitation personnel. Order to maintain safe working conditions, it is done by identifying core sanitation workers, requiring registration of sanitation service providers, and ensuring the provision of necessary equipment and PPE. The following are some of the advantages that the Odisha government will offer to core sanitation workers under the scheme:
- Financial Support for alternative livelihood
- Skill Improvement and training
- Counseling Support for new skills
- Educational support
- Health and life insurance
- Periodic health check-ups
- Housing support
- Disability support
- Mobility support
- Mobile support
- Financial assistance to families in an event of an accident or injury
- Financial support in form of a House Grant
- Post Service Benefits
- Purchase of 2 wheelers to extent of 90% of the cost
- Introduction of Special Category of Wages for core sanitation work
- Introduction of Risk and Hardship Allowance
- Illness allowance
- Access to EPF benefits
- Retirement benefits
Odisha Garima Scheme FAQs
Odisha Garima Scheme has been established to protect the security and respect of key sanitation personnel.
Garima Scheme was introduced by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik
There are about 114 urban local bodies (ULBs)
20,000 core sanitation employees and their families, or an estimated 1 lakh people.