MUMBAI, Dec. 10 -- Following multiple complaints about corruption and large-scale irregularities in the city's slum sanitation and garbage collection system, the state government on Tuesday announced that it would conduct an audit of Mumbai's erstwhile Dattak Vasti Yojana (DVY) or Slum Adoption Scheme. The DVY, launched years ago to improve cleanliness in informal settlements through community participation, was restructured in 2013 and brought under the banner of the Swachh Mumbai Prabodhan Abhiyan (SMPA). The move for an audit came after Mumbai BJP president and MLA Ameet Satam raised the issue during a discussion in the legislative assembly, claiming that the scheme had been systematically diluted and exploited. Satam argued that the insufficient number of sanitation workers had led to garbage accumulating on city roads, particularly near slum clusters. "The number of people deployed is far less than what the scheme mandates, and this has resulted in a scam where slum waste ends up spilling onto the streets," he told. Satam elaborated that the DVY/SMPA was critical to Mumbai's waste-collection chain since it handled the initial collection and transfer of garbage from slum pockets to municipal transport points. He pointed out that the requirement of collecting garbage twice daily from slums-necessitated by the lack of provision for waste storage inside hutments-was routinely ignored. "These violations point to widespread corruption," he alleged. Responding to the allegations, minister of state for urban development Madhuri Misal informed the house that the government would initiate an audit of the scheme. Under the rules of the DVY/SMPA, one unit must adopt 150 families-or a population of about 750-and deploy at least 15 sanitation workers. However, Satam alleged that many NGOs operating under the scheme employed only five to 10 workers while showing inflated numbers on paper and appropriating the wages of the remaining workers. Milind Ranade of the Kachra Vahatuk Shramik Sangh welcomed the decision to conduct an audit, stating that the ground reality sharply contradicted the documentation submitted by NGOs. "Instead of 10 workers, only five are deployed, and even they are underpaid," he said. "The so-called NGOs, who are actually contractors, claim that slum dwellers volunteer from within the settlements but many of these alleged volunteers are not even present on site. This scheme is often used as a paper arrangement by groups seeking municipal contracts while denying genuine slum dwellers their labour rights." Satam suggested that the government consider revising the criteria of the scheme, including reducing the population requirement from 750 to 500 and increasing worker wages while ensuring adequate deployment in each area....