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Beggars, ragpickers to manage public toilets in Capital

“Under the ‘Atm Nirbhar’ (self-dependent) scheme, the NDMC will provide institutional help in forming cooperatives of beggars and ragpickers,” said Vijay Prakash Pandey, chairman, Department of Environment Management Services (DEMS) Committee, NDMC.

After the formation of the cooperatives, they will be entrusted with the task of running the toilet blocks, he said.

“The DEMS with the help of NGOs working with these people will work for setting up cooperatives, which will be initially given the responsibility to run public toilets in JJ clusters. Later, they may be associated with the upkeep of toilets of other categories,” he said. Pandey said if the scheme is successful, the experiment may also be replicated for door-to-door garbage collection.

“Generally, we notice presence of beggars and their associates at various locations. They don’t just litter here and there but pose a security threat. With their empowerment, we will be able to stop their gathering at public places, markets, open areas, roads, streets, etc, and involve them in cleanliness activities. Though the plan is in the nascent stage, it will materialise soon,” said Ravinder Gupta, Mayor of the North MCD.

The corporation is also working on giving the public toilets in its jurisdiction to private agencies for ensuring cleanliness and better upkeep.

Also, under the Swachch Bharat campaign, the civic body has planned to hand over maintenance of toilets to corporates to bring down the expenditure on it.
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