The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment organized a National Workshop on 'Mission Zero: Ending Fatalities in Sanitation Work' at the State Convention Centre, Lokseva Bhawan, Bhubaneswar in Odisha on August 22, 2026. The workshop was graced by Shri Mohan Charan Majhi, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Odisha, and attended by Secretary Sudhansh Pant of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, along with other senior government officials including Smt. Anu Garg (Chief Secretary, Govt. of Odisha), Smt. Usha Padhee (Additional Chief Secretary, Housing & Urban Development Department), and various municipal commissioners and managing directors of implementing agencies.
The workshop focused on strengthening institutional mechanisms, promoting appropriate technologies, ensuring operational preparedness, and scaling up mechanised sanitation services across cities in India. Secretary Sudhansh Pant emphasized that achieving zero fatalities in sanitation work is a core national priority under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision, requiring a whole-of-government approach to ensure safe, systematic, and dignified sanitation services.
Key initiatives discussed include the NAMASTE and GARIMA schemes, which aim to promote mechanization and ensure occupational safety, health, education, and livelihood opportunities for sanitation workers and their dependents. The Swachhata Sarthi/waste picker component, introduced in 2024, was highlighted for bringing waste pickers into social and economic empowerment initiatives. Notably, the NAMASTE scheme has been extended until 2031 with the objective of ensuring systematic sanitation service delivery through Emergency Response Sanitation Units (ERSUs) and achieving saturation of welfare measures for sanitation workers and their families.
The workshop featured a safety devices and equipment marketplace where stakeholders showcased technologies and equipment designed to enhance safety and efficiency of sanitation workers. Waste-to-Wealth Self Help Groups comprising waste pickers and sanitation workers displayed opportunities for livelihood generation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable waste management. The event brought together representatives from the Government of India, Government of Odisha, Urban Local Bodies, CPHEEO, sanitation-sector institutions, civil society organizations, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, and sanitation workers themselves.
The Mission Zero approach seeks to transform sanitation work through mechanization, institutional preparedness, worker safety, social security, and livelihood support, with the ultimate goal of eliminating hazardous manual sanitation practices and achieving zero fatalities across the country.