'Pay Rs 10L in 15 days to bereaved families of 7 manual

The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis has directed the Puducherry government to ensure that Rs 10 lakh mandatrory compensation is paid in 15 days to each to the next of kin of seven manual scavengers who died in the line of their work here between 2007 and 2016.

Commission Chairman Manhar Valjbhai Zala and its member Jagadish Hiremani who were here Friday to review implementation of schemes for the workers here, told reporters later that nine cases of deaths of manual scavengers were reported here during this period.

Zala said the government had extended the solatium only to next of kin of the two families and the other seven families were yet to get the mandatory compensation.

The government has been directed to provide the solatium to these families also within the next 15 days.

He said 709 deaths were reported in the country, with tamil nadu accounting for the most at 165, followed by Gujarat with 132, and Karnataka with 69.

The Commission had asked the Puducherry government to conduct an intensive survey in association with NGO's, identify manual scavengers in the Union Territory and report the findings of the survey to it.

Machinery should be used to clean open drains in Puducherry, the Chairman said and added that children of the workers should be extended education facility upto graduation level. Also, all facilities for their socio-economic development should be provided to the workers, he said.

Workers under contract for cleaning open drains should be provided with minimum wages, Provident Fund, insurance, medical check up and also safety kits in Puducherry in keeping with labour laws, he said.

The Chairman warned that contractors failing to provide safety equipment to workers cleaning sewers would be blacklisted.