The Harpic World Toilet College - Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India

\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nSanitation workers face a double disadvantage due to caste discrimination and the demeaning nature of their jobs. Their rehabilitation demands a comprehensive approach that moves beyond expanding opportunities for income generation or providing loans, by laying focus upon various aspects that can play a crucial role in securing the future of the next generation of liberated sanitation workers. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\naims to achieve its objectives via: \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n• Entrepreneurship promotion in the sanitation value chain through capacity enhancement and market linkages \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n• Employment linked vocational training, using ICT and in-person tools, ranging from technical training to soft skills to career counseling and partnership development \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nA well-developed and comprehensive rehabilitation package includes the following elements: \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n• Capacitating community to access their rights and entitlement \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n• Moving towards a discrimination-free and secure livelihood for self-reliance \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nThus, the sanitation workers must be engaged with, via a continuum approach that liberates them from the practice, while developing further linkages with alternative dignified livelihood opportunities, through skill up-gradation and entrepreneurship. A large proportion of the hazardous sanitation work is concentrated in the urban areas as it involves cleaning sewers and handling fecal sludge. Based on an overview of the different sanitation ecosystems and local market opportunities, the project has attempted to demonstrate contextualized livelihood models and solutions, across the sanitation value chain, in three geographies: Urban, Semi-urban and Rural. Models of Deployment\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n1) Creation of Harpic Entrepreneurs \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nThe World Toilet College (WTC) strives to upskill sanitation workers and improve their livelihoods. It aims to empower and capacitate the community to access their rights and entitlements and secure a discrimination-free livelihood, characterized by self-reliance. In order to achieve the outlined objectives, the WTC aspires to transform the manual scavengers into Harpic Entrepreneurs. Harpic is an RB product used for cleaning toilets.\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n2) Establishing Self-Help Groups for sanitation workers\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\nManual scavengers often work without any safety gear, using only bamboo/rods. This severely risks their health and safety. There are machines available to do this kind of scavenging and their usage could mitigate the health hazards and indignity associated with manual scavenging. These machines cost up to INR 1 lakh, exclusive of taxes. \\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\n