Bhubaneswar: Some journeys begin with dreams; others begin with the struggle to survive. For one mother, every day once meant cleaning toilets to put food on the table and raising her young son after her husband left her. But hardship did not have the final word. Today, that difficult past has given way to a story of courage, dignity, and a new beginning.
Jhunulata Naik from Kataka knows what it means to fight for a better tomorrow. After her husband left, she became the sole support for her seven-year-old son. She worked at a nursing home, cleaning toilets to make ends meet. The work was physically demanding and came with little security, safety or recognition. Yet, she continued to shoulder the responsibility of raising her child and keeping her household going.
Then came an opportunity that changed the course of her life. Through the GARIMA Scheme of the Government of Odisha, Jhunulata received specialised training from the Kataka Municipal Corporation (KMC) in desludging of onsite sanitation systems. GARIMA seeks to transform the lives of Core Sanitation Workers by ensuring safer working conditions, dignity, skill development, social security and greater professional recognition.
With determination and courage, she stepped into the field of desludging and went on to become Odisha’s first woman desludger. For her, this was more than a new job. It was a new beginning.
Today, she works with a proper uniform and safety equipment and receives regular remuneration. The change is visible not only in her working conditions but also in her confidence. She is now able to perform an essential sanitation service as a trained professional, with the safety and dignity that every worker deserves.
For a woman who once worked simply to survive, having a profession of her own has brought something equally important—independence and self-respect.
By becoming the State’s first woman desludger, Jhunulata has also broken a gender barrier. Her journey shows what women can achieve when skills, opportunity and a safe working environment come together.
But the biggest dream she carries is not for herself. It is for her son. Jhunulata wants to provide him with a good education and see him pursue higher studies. Every day, when she puts on her uniform and goes to work, she carries that dream with her—the hope of giving her child opportunities beyond the struggles she herself experienced.
Her journey reflects the larger purpose of GARIMA—to ensure that those who work to keep communities clean and healthy are themselves able to live and work with dignity. By bringing together safety, skill development, protective equipment, mechanisation and social-security measures, GARIMA is helping create a safer and more dignified future for Core Sanitation Workers.
The commitment to their security was further strengthened at the previous national conclave, where Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced life insurance coverage for Core Sanitation Workers engaged in hazardous work, along with compensation in the event of death during duty.
The journey now moves towards an even bigger goal. The 2nd National GARIMA Conclave 2026, to be held on 22 August 2026, will carry forward this commitment under the powerful theme “Mission Zero: Ending Fatalities in Sanitation Work.”
Mission Zero is a clear call to ensure that no sanitation worker loses their life while doing the essential work of keeping society clean. It places safety at the heart of sanitation work—moving beyond protection after a tragedy to creating systems where such tragedies do not happen in the first place.
Jhunulata’s story gives this mission a deeply human meaning. From cleaning toilets at a nursing home to becoming Odisha’s first woman desludger, she has turned adversity into determination and an uncertain livelihood into a profession she can take pride in.
Today, she works with her head held high—not because life became easy, but because she found the opportunity and the courage to build a better future for herself and her son.
