Lucknow: A National Valmiki Conference will be organised in Lucknow on September 27 at the Vishweshvaraiya Auditorium in the PWD building, organisers said.
Chandan Lal Valmiki, national working president of the All India Confederation of Deprived and Exploited Social Organisations, and Akash Pushkar, chairman of the organising committee, held a meeting with senior members from Lucknow to discuss preparations for the conference. Arrangements for accommodation, transportation and food for delegates arriving from different states were also reviewed.
According to Chandan Lal Valmiki, the conference will be inaugurated by Jagatguru Shri Krishna Shah Vidyarthi Mahamandaleshwar. Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Minister of State for Urban Development Rakesh Rathore, Social Welfare Minister Asim Arun and Bhagwat Prasad Makwana, chairman of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, are among those invited as chief guests. Representatives of the National Human Rights Commission, state commissions, trade unions and social and religious organisations have also been invited.
Organisers said the conference will focus on the social, economic, educational and political participation of the Valmiki community, classification within reservations and regular recruitment for sanitation work.
Other issues expected to be raised include benefits for long-serving contractual sanitation workers, changes in eligibility requirements for outsourced sanitation workers, prevention of deaths during sewer and septic-tank cleaning, and rehabilitation of affected families.
The organisers will also seek effective implementation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, better access to schemes of the National Safai Karmacharis Finance and Development Corporation, revival of schemes affected by the absence of state guarantees, and healthcare benefits of up to Rs 5 lakh for sanitation workers.
Delegates from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, besides Uttar Pradesh, are expected to attend the conference.
Chandan Lal, Raju Pradhan, Pratap Singh Pape, Mahesh Chaudhary, Chandra Kumar Valmiki, Mahesh Chand, Rakesh Lakha, poet Akhilesh Valmiki, Kunwar Ayushman, Amit Chaudhary and Manoj Hindu were among those who discussed the strategy for organising the event.
