236 districts yet to declare themselves manual-scavenging free: Govt

The Centre on Wednesday said 236 districts are yet to declare themselves free from manual scavenging even as it claimed that no district has reported the practice.

Fourteen states and Union Territories have declared themselves manual-scavenging free, it said.

Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said 530 of India's 766 districts have reported themselves to be free from manual scavenging.

"There is no report of (the) practice of manual scavenging in any districts. We have requested all districts either to declare themselves free from manual scavenging or upload the data of insanitary latrine and manual scavengers associated with it on the 'Swachhta Abhiyan' mobile app. However, no credible data has been uploaded on the app so far," Athawale said in a written response.

Most districts of Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Telangana and West Bengal are yet to declare themselves manual-scavenging free, he said.

Manual scavenging is banned under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.

The law bans the use of any individual for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of or otherwise handling in any manner human excreta till its disposal.

Responding to another question, Athawale said 14 states and Union Territories are free from manual scavenging, according to information received from districts and state governments and Union Territory administrations towards manual scavenging-free status.