"There Is No Report Of Practice Of Manual Scavenging Currently In India": Ministry (Photo @@DearthOfSid)
Responding to a query regarding manual scavenging in India, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment today asserted that “there is no report of practice of manual scavenging currently in the country.” The Ministry, however, noted that from 2018 to 2023, around 377 people died across states and union territories due to the hazardous cleaning of sewage and septic tanks according to a survey.
The MPs in Lok Sabha had asked for details of the number of deaths due to the manual scavenging in the country. Notably, after the Union Budget presented this month, the national convenor of Safai Karmachari Andolan, Bezwada Wilson, claimed that 43 sanitation workers died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks between the Interim Budget on February 1, 2024, and the Union Budget on July 23, 2024. He also slammed the central government for not mentioning manual scavenging or sewer fatalities in the Union Budget 2024.
Read Also: Kerala: 33 Hours Since Sanitation Worker Went Missing in Garbage-Filled Canal
Regarding the government efforts to ensure the safety of manual scavengers, the ministry said that a regular meeting of the central monitoring committee has been convened to monitor the implementation of the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and their rehabilitation Act 2013, an act that makes it mandatory for employers to provide safety gear and devices and ensure other precautions as per the law.
The Minister, in its reply, added the standards operation procures advisory issued for cleaning of sewage and septic tanks. The advisory seeks the technical and managerial intervention for ensuring safety during sewage and septic tank cleaning through emergency response sanitization units. In addition, ready reckoner for urban local bodies for ensuring sanitization of workers.
Read Also: Seine Pollution: Olympics Organisers Cancel First Triathlon Training
The Ministry also highlighted that the Namaste scheme is being implemented in all urban local bodies. The schemes ensure the safety of the sanitization workers. The directions under the scheme are as follows: zero fatalities in sanitization works, all sanitization to be performed by skilled workers, no sanitization workers come into direct contact with human feces, enhanced awareness among sanitization service seekers to seek service from skilled and registered providers, empowering sanitization workers to run sanitization enterprises, and promoting mechanization of the cleaning works.
The scheme also formalizes sewer septic tank workers, providing occupational safety training, safety gear, and health insurance, the ministry added.
