BENGALURU: The Social Welfare Department is expected to soon roll out a Rs 1,000-crore one-time rehabilitation project to provide “housing and dignified livelihood” to each of the state’s 7,483 identified manual scavengers -- marking one of the largest state-led efforts to end the practice.
Social Welfare Minister HC Mahadevappa told TNIE that the state government aims at permanent rehabilitation of all identified manual scavengers by providing them houses, sustainable employment opportunities, and access to social protection schemes. “The project is in its early stages of formulation, and we are holding consultations to understand the best way forward,” the minister said.
“Our goal is to help manual scavengers lead a dignified life. We don’t want to implement this in phases where some have to wait. We want to provide every individual a house at once,” the minister added.
Sources in the department revealed that the government wants to complete the project by November 26, 2026, to mark Constitution Day.
3 plans for manual scavengers
Title deeds of houses are expected to be handed over to the beneficiaries on that day in the presence of a senior Congress leader from New Delhi.
A senior official said that the department has started talks with the Housing Department and has three plans. “The first plan is for families of manual scavengers who already own sites, where houses will be constructed. The second is for those without sites. The department is planning a group housing scheme in rural areas, where land will be identified and houses built for groups of four to five families. Under the third plan, group housing in urban areas will be provided. The department is looking for land near Metro stations or other accessible locations for the purpose. All three plans are being discussed. Since the cost of building houses will vary for each model, a survey will be conducted to assess the number of families and estimate the cost,” he said.
Of the 7,483 manual scavengers, 1,625 are in BBMP limits, followed by Mysuru with 1,381 and Kolar 1,224. In contrast, Vijayapura and Bagalkot have zero manual scavengers.
