Debangana Ray
Published on June 18, 2022 at 19:50 IST
Recently, the Allahabad High Court directed municipal authorities to widely publicize the rights and entitlements of sanitary workers so that the government schemes could serve their purpose.
The bench comprising of Justices Chandra Kumar Rai and Manoj Kumar Gupta noted that the benefits of the schemes are not reaching the beneficiaries.
“Albeit, a lot has been done on papers, but the benefits have not trickled down to the beneficiaries. Only framing SOPs and guidelines without having any mechanism in place to ensure implementation is of no use,” the Court said.
The bench directed the authorities to take concrete action for the implementation of the schemes to make a positive change in the working conditions of the workers.
“One effective way of ensuing implementation of any welfare scheme is to educate the beneficiary of his rights and entitlements. We feel that the SOPs and other beneficial schemes framed by the Government will not serve its objectives unless the workers are educated of their rights and entitlements.”
The respondents were asked to prepare a one-page pamphlet detailing the rights and enlistments of the sanitary workers.
“It should thereafter be widely publicized in the newspapers, on the notice board of the local body and other mediums of mass communication. Each and every sanitary worker should be handed over the printed pamphlet enlisting their rights and entitlements,” the Court directed.
The court was informed that the Nagar Nigam had published an advertisement to facilitate the filing of complaints.
It was also submitted that the authorities were strictly monitoring that the schemes reach the appropriate beneficiaries.
The case will now be heard on July 5.