Waste management will provide employment: Uma Bharti

NEW DELHI: Union Minister Uma Bharti on Friday said that waste management will encourage skill development and empower women by providing them employment.

The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in association with the TATA Trusts held a two-day national consultative workshop on Solid and Liquid Resource Management starting on February 22 in Delhi.

While speaking at the workshop, Bharti, the Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation, said that turning waste into resource is of acute importance.

"Turning waste to resource is of acute importance and imbibing the learning of the workshop will not just help in processing waste but will also help in beautification of villages. It is another facet of the workshop that will improve skill development and empower women by providing them with employment", Bharti said at the workshop.

The workshop covered topics ranging from Gobar-dhan, biodegradable waste management, menstrual health management, faecal sludge management, plastics and liquid waste management.

The workshop also marked a shift in national sanitation policy from "Solid and Liquid Waste Management" to "Solid and Liquid Resource Management".

S.S. Ahluwalia, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation, also addressed the workshop and launched a special webpage for Solid and Liquid Resource Management (SLRM) on the Swachh Bharat Mission website.

Speaking at the launch, he said, "Behaviour change begins at home, and by adopting the 4Rs (refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle), each one of us can help realise our collective dream of a Swachh Bharat".

The event was attended by industry experts, dignitaries from various states, as well as ODF champions who brought about significant change in their respective villages and districts.