Cabinet extends tenure of sanitation workers panel

The union cabinet on Wednesday decided to extend the tenure of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) beyond March 31, 2016 for three years.

The major beneficiaries of the proposal would be safai karamcharis (sanitation workers) and people engaged in manual scavenging in the country since the NCSK will work for their welfare, an official statement issued here said.

The total expenditure for the extended tenure of the NCSK of three years would be

approximately Rs.13.08 crore, it said.

The NCSK was established in 1993 as per the provisions of the NCSK Act, 1993, initially for the period upto March 31, 1997. Later, the validity of the Act was extended up to March 31, 2002 and then to February 29, 2004.

The NCSK Act ceased to have effect from February 29, 2004. After that, the tenure of the NCSK has been extended as a non-statutory body from time to time. The tenure of the present commission is up to March 31, 2016.