Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has announced an increase in the salaries of sanitation workers both in rural and urban areas in the state. "Monthly salary of sanitation workers in rural areas to increase from Rs 12,500 to Rs 14,000 and for those in urban areas to increase from Rs 15,000 to Rs 16,000," Khattar said during his speech at Safai Mitra Utthan Sammelan in Karnal on Sunday. He further announced, "If the salary is delayed then Rs 500 to be given with next month's salary as additional compensation. "Khattar said that a new technology has been introduced in Rewari and Gurgaon with regard to sewage cleaning. He said that all sewage main holes will have sensors.
In case there is an overflow, an alert will be sent to officials and cleaning will be done by machines, Khattar said, adding that this is an initiative towards safety of sanitation workers. An insurance compensation of Rs 10 lakh will be provided to the family of workers engaged in sewage cleaning, the chief minister said. Upon the death of a sanitation worker, engaged in works other than sewage cleaning, a benefit of Rs 5 lakh will be provided under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Suraksha Bima Yojana, while Rs 2 lakh will be provided in case of natural death, he said. Workers with an annual income of up to Rs 1.80 lakh will be able to take a collateral free loan for education of their children and if a person is not able to pay such loan, then it will be compensated by the state government, Khattar said.