# Sanitation Workers' Dignity Takes Centre Stage As Kolkata Hosts Third NAMASTE Day

> Union Minister Virendra Kumar said the NAMASTE Scheme reflects the government's commitment to ensuring sanitation workers can work with dignity and safety, as Kolkata marked the third NAMASTE Day alongside the city's first Divya Kala Mela.

**Type:** article · **Category:** West Bengal · **Published:** 2026-07-19 · **Source:** TrendKia
**Canonical:** https://trendkia.com/en/west-bengal/kolkata-men-tisare-namaste-divasa-para-saphai-karmiyon-ki-garima-aura-suraksha-para-raha-phokasa-8772 · **Language:** English
**Tags:** NAMASTE Scheme, Sanitation Workers, Virendra Kumar, Kolkata, Divya Kala Mela, West Bengal, NAMASTE Day

The third NAMASTE Day was marked in Kolkata on July 14, with celebrations built around the government's push to give sanitation workers safer working conditions and greater dignity, even as similar programmes ran in urban local bodies across the country on the same day.

## What Union Minister Virendra Kumar said
Speaking at the event, Union Minister Virendra Kumar said the NAMASTE Scheme reflects the government's commitment to ensuring every sanitation worker is able to work with dignity and safety. He was in Kolkata to honour sanitation workers as part of the day's programme.

## A first for Kolkata: the Divya Kala Mela
Alongside NAMASTE Day, the Centre and the West Bengal government jointly organised the first Divya Kala Mela in Kolkata, bringing an event usually built around showcasing the work of persons with disabilities into the same city and window as the sanitation worker celebrations.

## A nationwide effort, not a one city event
While Kolkata hosted the flagship celebrations, urban local bodies across India ran parallel programmes on July 14 to mark NAMASTE Day, underlining that the scheme's reach extends well beyond one state capital. The scheme had earlier been described as reaching a milestone in advancing the dignity and safety of sanitation workers, and in February, a NAMASTE Scheme programme was also held in Pilibhit in the presence of Minister of State B. L. Verma.

## Why it matters
Manual and unsafe sanitation work has long carried serious health and safety risks for workers across Indian cities. The NAMASTE Scheme is aimed at addressing this by promoting safer, more dignified working conditions for sanitation workers, and events like the Kolkata celebrations are being used by the government to draw public attention to that effort.

## What this means for you
- **Across India:** The NAMASTE Scheme's continued push affects sanitation workers nationwide, since urban local bodies across the country held parallel events on the same day to spotlight worker safety and welfare.
- **In Kolkata/West Bengal:** Sanitation workers and persons with disabilities in the city benefited directly, as Kolkata hosted both the flagship NAMASTE Day event and the first ever Divya Kala Mela, organised jointly by the Centre and the state government.

## Questions & Answers

### 1. What is the NAMASTE Scheme about?
It is a government initiative aimed at ensuring sanitation workers across India can work with greater safety and dignity.

### 2. What did Union Minister Virendra Kumar say about the scheme?
He said the NAMASTE Scheme reflects the government's commitment to ensuring every sanitation worker is able to work with dignity and safety.

### 3. Where and when was the third NAMASTE Day celebrated?
It was celebrated in Kolkata on July 14, with parallel programmes held in urban local bodies across the country the same day.

### 4. What was held alongside NAMASTE Day in Kolkata?
The Centre and the West Bengal government jointly organised the city's first Divya Kala Mela alongside the NAMASTE Day celebrations.

### 5. Was this the first NAMASTE related event this year?
No, a NAMASTE Scheme programme was also held earlier in Pilibhit on February 26, in the presence of Minister of State B. L. Verma.

### 6. Has the NAMASTE Scheme achieved any milestones before this?
It was earlier described as having reached a milestone in advancing the dignity and safety of sanitation workers.

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