A sanitation worker in Chennai who registers with the Tamil Nadu Cleanliness Workers Welfare Board gets accident insurance, ₹20,000 if they die of natural causes and a ₹1,000 monthly pension in old age. Their children get scholarships every year from Class 10 to postgraduate study. Temporary and contract conservancy workers can join, not only permanent Corporation staff.
The board was set up on 11 June 2007 and is run through TAHDCO, the state’s Adi Dravidar development corporation. The state reconstituted it on 8 September 2023. A separate Union scheme, NAMASTE, covers the more dangerous sewer and septic tank work. Here is what each offers and how to sign up.
What the welfare board pays
These are the amounts on the board’s TAHDCO scheme page:
| Benefit | Amount |
|---|---|
| Death at the workplace (accident) | ₹5,00,000 |
| Disability from an accident | ₹10,000 to ₹1,00,000 |
| Natural death | ₹20,000 |
| Funeral expenses | ₹5,000 |
| Marriage | ₹3,000 (men), ₹5,000 (women) |
| Maternity | ₹1,000 a month, ₹6,000 in all |
| Spectacles | Up to ₹500 |
| Old-age pension | ₹1,000 a month |
The board’s downloadable scheme sheet gives a higher accidental death figure of ₹10 lakh. Ask the office which amount applies when you register.
Scholarships are paid every year. A regular degree gets ₹1,500 for day scholars and ₹1,750 for hostellers. Professional degrees get ₹4,000 and ₹6,000, and professional postgraduate courses ₹6,000 and ₹8,000. ITI and polytechnic students get ₹1,000 or ₹1,200. At school level, the TAHDCO page lists ₹1,500 for girls studying in Classes 10, 11 and 12, and the same for any child who passes Class 10 or 12. Apply soon after results or admission, with the mark sheet or bonafide certificate.
How to register in Chennai
In April 2025 the Greater Chennai Corporation opened a help centre for conservancy workers at its Anna Nagar zonal office. Its job is to help workers enrol with the board and claim benefits. The Corporation said similar centres would follow in all 15 zones. Registered members got identity cards and scheme booklets at the launch.
- Visit your zonal office or ask your sanitary inspector which zone has a help desk.
- Take Aadhaar, a bank passbook, a photo and proof that you do sanitation work, such as an ID card from your employer or contractor.
- Collect the board’s identity card. Keep it safe, because every claim needs its number.
- For questions, call the Corporation’s 1913 helpline at Ripon Building.
The help centre is for temporary sanitation workers and their families as well as permanent staff. This matters in Chennai, where many conservancy workers are on contract or engaged through self-help groups.
NAMASTE: for sewer and septic tank workers
NAMASTE (National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem) began in July 2023. It is run by the Union social justice and urban affairs ministries with an outlay of ₹349.70 crore up to 2025-26, according to a PIB factsheet. Its aim is to stop people entering sewers and septic tanks by hand and to move the work to machines.
By August 2025, the scheme had verified 84,902 sewer and septic tank workers across India. It had handed out 45,871 sets of protective gear and enrolled 54,140 people under Ayushman Bharat or state health schemes. It had also paid ₹20.36 crore in capital subsidy to 707 workers and dependants to start sanitation businesses, and set up 642 emergency response sanitation units in cities. Waste pickers were added to the scheme in June 2024. By August 2025, 37,980 of them had been verified. An enumeration app launched on World Environment Day 2025 aims to profile 2.5 lakh waste pickers, many of whom work Chennai’s streets and dumpyards without any formal employer. The 642 emergency units had received 354 safety device kits.
The Corporation’s April 2025 announcement said core sanitation workers in sewage work would get training, NAMASTE ID cards, protective gear and minimum wage assurance through the same help centres.
Loans and the wider picture
Sanitation workers and their families can also borrow from the national safai karamchari finance corporation through TAHDCO. In 2023-24, ₹109.06 lakh was lent to 587 workers in Tamil Nadu, according to the department’s policy note.
Welfare benefits are only part of the story. In May 2026, hundreds of contract workers under the urban livelihoods mission protested outside the Corporation, The News Minute reported. They wanted regular jobs, higher wages, weekly holidays and toilets for women workers, and opposed privatisation of waste collection. Those demands sit outside the board’s role.
Quick answers
Can contract sanitation workers join the welfare board?
Yes. The Corporation’s help centres are meant for temporary workers and their families too.
What pension does the board pay?
₹1,000 a month in old age, according to TAHDCO’s scheme page.
Where can I get help registering in Chennai?
The Corporation’s conservancy help centre at the Anna Nagar zonal office, or call 1913.
What is NAMASTE?
A Union scheme for sewer and septic tank workers that provides protective gear, health cover, training and business subsidy.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- Cleanliness Workers Welfare Board schemes (TAHDCO)
- TNCWWB scheme details (TAHDCO)
- Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department Policy Note 2024-25 (Government of Tamil Nadu)
- NAMASTE scheme factsheet, September 2025 (Press Information Bureau)
- Help centre for conservancy workers in Chennai (News Today, April 2025)
- Chennai sanitation workers demand TVK govt withdraw cases, regularise jobs (The News Minute, May 2026)
