Manual Scavenging In India
What Is Manual Scavenging?
Manual scavenging is defined as “the removal of human excrement from public streets and dry latrines, cleaning septic tanks, gutters and sewers”.
India banned the practice under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR).
The Act bans the use of any individual manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of or otherwise handling in any manner human excreta till its disposal.
The Act recognizes manual scavenging as a “dehumanizing practice”.
What Are The Reasons For The Prevalence of Manual Scavenging?
Issues Due To Outsourcing
Many times, local bodies outsource sewer cleaning tasks to private contractors. However, many of them fly-by-night operators, do not maintain proper rolls of sanitation workers.
In case after case of workers being asphyxiated to death, these contractors have denied any association with the deceased.
Social Issue
The practice is driven by caste, class and income divides.
It is linked to India’s caste system where so-called lower castes are expected to perform this job.
In 1993, India banned the employment of people as manual scavengers (The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993), however, the stigma and discrimination associated with it still linger on.
This makes it difficult for liberated manual scavengers to secure alternative livelihoods.
What Are The Steps Taken To Tackle The Menace of Manual Scavenging?
The Prohibition of Employment As Manual Scavengers And Their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020
It proposes to completely mechanise sewer cleaning, introduce ways for ‘on-site’ protection and provide compensation to manual scavengers in case of sewer deaths.
It will be an amendment to The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
It is still awaiting cabinet approval.
The Building And Maintenance of Insanitary Latrines Act of 2013
It outlaws' construction or maintenance of unsanitary toilets, and the hiring of anybody for their manual scavenging, as well as of hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
It also provides a constitutional responsibility to provide alternative jobs and other assistance to manual scavenging communities, as reparation for historical injustice and indignity.
Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act, 1989
In 1989, the Prevention of Atrocities Act became an integrated guard for sanitation workers, more than 90% people employed as manual scavengers belonged to the Scheduled Caste. This became an important landmark to free manual scavengers from designated traditional occupations.
Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge
It was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on World Toilet Day (19th November) in 2020.
The Government launched this “challenge” for all states to make sewer-cleaning mechanised by April 2021 — if any human needs to enter a sewer line in case of unavoidable emergency, proper gear and oxygen tanks, etc., are to be provided.
Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan
It is a national campaign for dignity and eradication of manual scavenging launched by Jan Sahas in 2001.
Swachhta Abhiyan App
It has been developed to identify and geotag the data of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers so that the insanitary latrines can be replaced with sanitary latrines and rehabilitate all the manual scavengers to provide dignity of life to them.
National Action Plan for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE)
The NAMASTE scheme is being undertaken jointly by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the MoSJ&E and aims to eradicate unsafe sewer and septic tank cleaning practices.
SC Judgment: In 2014, a Supreme Court order made it mandatory for the government to identify all those who died in sewage work since 1993 and provide Rs. 10 lakh each as compensation to their families.
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