On 8th October 2021, UNFPA in partnership with Patna Municipal Corporation launched the Mechanized Cleaning Women Cooperative under Sustainable & Inclusive Urbanization in Patna: Promoting Safe, Healthy and Inclusive Models for Slum Development.

The initiative is a women-led entrepreneurship model under which women from the sanitation workers community trained with specialized skills undertake mechanized cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. The initiative is also aimed at eliminating the harmful & hazardous practice of #manualscavenging.