What happened: SUY-NAMASTE support enabled a sanitation worker’s mechanised enterprise
Under the NAMASTE Scheme, the Swachhta Udyami Yojana (SUY) component provided financial assistance to Neeraj, a 40-year-old sanitation worker from Bhikanpur village, Muradnagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. The support enabled him to purchase suction-fitted tractors and establish an independent mechanised sanitation service enterprise for sewer and septic-tank cleaning.
Background and earlier position: contractor-linked, hazardous, irregular work
Before receiving SUY assistance, Neeraj worked for several years as a helper in sewer and septic-tank cleaning operations alongside sanitation workers and private contractors. His work was physically demanding and unsafe, with limited safety arrangements and irregular employment tied to contractors. Neeraj was the sole earning member of a family with a wife and two children, and his monthly income was approximately ₹8,000, which was insufficient and irregular for household expenses, children’s education, and healthcare needs.
Neeraj also faced occupational risks and social stigma linked to sanitation work. Limited educational and technical exposure, lack of savings, and difficulty arranging capital prevented him from purchasing modern sanitation machinery and setting up an independent enterprise.
What changed now: SUY assistance converted financial support into mechanised self-employment
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