CUTTACK: A city-based transgender SHG has recently bagged the national-level ISC-FICCI Sanitation Award-2021 for its commendable work in faecal sludge management. The group - Bahuchara Mata Transgender SHG - has 10 members has been operating the Faecal Sludge Treatment Plant at Matagajpur which was constructed by Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board (OWSSB) last year.
In order to empower the marginal group, CMC decided to handover the facility to the SHG. The civic body also trained them for two months in operating it and turning the waste into compost, said District Coordinator, Technical Supporting Unit(TSU), Faecal Sludge and Septage Management, Cuttack Asish Mohanty. “Earlier, we used to beg for a living. The work assigned to us by the CMC has provided us a livelihood”, said secretary of the SHG Sital Bastia.
The CMC Commissioner felicitated the group members for the achievement. The plant was handed over to the SHG through a service contract between it and the CMC with `1,22,000 towards operation and maintenance cost,” said Commissioner Ananya Das adding that the civic body is also planning to include more transgender SHGs in city sanitation programme.