17-Year Old launches Home Loan App for Sanitation Workers with BMC

by Suman Gupta

• Diwali Gift for sanitation workers by Sanjana Runwal, founder of Clean Up Foundation

• App was launched in the presence of BMC Additional Commissioner

Mumbai, 27^th October 2021: The Clean-Up Foundation, a NGO that has been dedicated to improving the lives of the sanitation workers in Mumbai for the last 5 years, has developed a home loan app for them. The app was formally launched in the presence of Mr. Suresh Kakani, Additional Commissioner of BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the governing civic body of Mumbai, along with Ms. Sanjana Runwal, a 17-year teen from Mumbai and the founder of the NGO: The Clean-Up Foundation.

The app will help the sanitation workers in getting information about organized housing finance options and assist them in calculating their eligibility, equated monthly instalments (EMIs) etc in 4 very easy steps, based their income. Most of these workers are currently dependent on individual money lenders for their loan and finance requirements, often getting exploited in the process. This app is a step towards creating awareness about proper housing finance options and educating them about the same. This Diwali the Clean-Up Foundation aims to brighten up the lives of the sanitation workers by helping them obtain their own house.

Commenting about the app Sanjana Runwal said, “Our aim is to improve the living conditions of the sanitation workers who live in deplorable conditions. After conducting much research, we identified that they do not have proper housing in spite of having an adequate income. This home loan app is a small step taken by us in trying to help them explore organized channels of housing finance. Currently, the garbage workers mostly depend on channels such as money lenders, private lenders, etc where they end up paying very high interest rates and are exploited by them. This app will also help them to check their loan eligibility, calculate their EMIs and will pave a way for them to connect with the right home-finance institutions.”

On behalf of BMC, Mr. Kakani congratulated Sanjana on her commendable work and wished her success in her future endeavours to bring a positive change in the society. He urged her to continue with such initiatives in future as well.

Recently, Sanjana was honoured with a Certificate of Appreciation by Dr. Jitendra Awhad, Minister of Housing, Maharashtra State and Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Honourable Governor of Maharashtra for her exemplary work: a research paper on ‘Affordable Housing Solutions for Garbage Workers’ of the city. Her research report was submitted to the Government of Maharashtra so that the solutions suggested in the research can be considered while framing housing policies by the state for the welfare of this particular segment of the society.

Sanjana spearheads activities of the Clean Up Foundation, an NGO that drives initiatives directed at enhancing the lives of  sanitation workers of the city.  The Clean Up Foundation’s activities include providing clean drinking water facilities, safety gear, healthy meals, education finance for children of garbage workers, free Covid-19 vaccination for ragpickers and other similar activities. The affordable housing for solid waste workers will contribute to the welfare of society by uplifting this underprivileged section, as well as add to the city’s long-term development by improving the efficiency of these workers in keeping our city clean.