The Union government is yet to identify any measurable indicators to show the enhanced efficiency or productivity resulting from the mechanisation of sewer and septic tank cleaning, it told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (March 17, 2026), in response to a question about the progress of the NAMASTE mission to mechanise sanitation work across the country and prevent deaths from hazardous cleaning.
The government added that it had no information about the income rise among sanitation workers since the mission started in 2023-24.
In response to another question, the government said that 622 people across India had died due to hazardous cleaning since 2017. It added that, in 2025, the National Commission for Safai Karmacharis received 842 complaints from sanitation workers about “non-payment of wages, denial of safety equipment and caste-based discrimination”.
NAMASTE mission impact
The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment was responding to multiple questions about the progress of the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme and the status of those employed to clean sewers and septic tanks.
