Manual Scavengers

Building on the groundwork laid in 2024, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment will be focussing on achieving nationwide manual scavenging-free status and improving accessibility for persons with disabilities next year. Even though the ministry has time and again said that manual scavenging no longer exists in the country, only 257 districts have uploaded their manual scavenging-free certificates on the central government portal. The ministry has urged the remaining districts to update their status promptly. Under the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem' (NAMASTE) scheme, 54,574 sewer and septic tank workers have been profiled, of whom 37,060 (67 per cent) belong to the Scheduled Castes category, a senior official said. The ministry aims to prioritise their rehabilitation next year. Also, the NAMASTE scheme will expand further in 2025, with plans to profile 2,50,000 waste pickers across the country, the official said. The programme will offer waste pickers

A total of 377 people have died from 2019 to 2023 while hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks but there is no report of practice of manual scavenging in the country, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday. Responding to a question in the House, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale listed the steps taken for effective implementation of Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013. In response to another question on the number of people engaged in manual scavenging, Athawale said, "There is no report of practice of manual scavenging currently in the country". "A total of 377 persons have died in states/UTs during the last five years from 2019 to 2023 due to hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks," he said in a written response.

The CM called upon the people to outrightly reject the opponents of the constitution

According to the data provided by the minister, 76 deaths occurred while cleaning septic tanks and sewers in 2018, 133 in 2019, 35 in 2020, 66 in 2021, 84 in 2022 and 49 in 2023

Observing that a large segment of India's population, involved in manual scavenging, has remained unheard and muted, in bondage and systematically trapped in inhumane conditions, the Supreme Court has directed the Centre and states to take appropriate measures, frame policies and issue directions to ensure that manual sewer cleaning is completely eradicated in a phased manner. The top court has asked the Centre to issue guidelines and directions that any sewer-cleaning work outsourced or required to be discharged by or through contractors or agencies do not require individuals to enter sewers for any purpose whatsoever. Issuing a slew of directions, a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat (since retired) and Aravind Kumar asked the central and state governments to pay Rs 30 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of those who die while cleaning sewers. "The court hereby directs the Union and the states to ensure that the compensation for sewer deaths is increased (given that the previou

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

As the government's deadline to declare India manual scavenging free nears, about 246 districts of the country are yet to declare themselves free from the inhuman practice, according to officials. The matter was discussed at the eighth meeting of the central monitoring committee chaired by Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar. According to data shared in the meeting, out of 766 districts, as many as 520 districts have declared themselves manual scavenging free, while 246 districts are yet to submit the report. "I would request the states concerned to submit a report to us as we are committed to our vision of declaring India manual scavenging free by August 2023," a senior official with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said. He said the defaulting states are required to either declare all their districts free from manual scavenging or upload existing insanitary latrines and manual scavengers, if any, associated with them so that requisite rehabilitation benefits can

There is some good news for human scavengers. In a first for the region, smart robots will soon begin cleaning clogged sewers and the project will begin from Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj

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The Aam Aadmi Party Government was directed by the Delhi High Court to file an affidavit regarding the compensation payment to the two safai staffers who recently died during manual scavenging

The National Human Rights Commission took suo motu cognisance of a report that four persons died after inhaling toxic fumes while cleaning the sewer tank in Haryana's Faridabad district

With the fitment of bio-toilets in all broad gauge coaches, no faecal matter is discharged on railway tracks, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday

Govt introduced the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) in 2007 to aid the rehabilitation of 'former' manual scavengers transitioning to other occupations

As many as 66,692 manual scavengers, including 37,379 in Uttar Pradesh, have been identified across the country

Police said during an enquiry, it surfaced that the factory, Delhi Chain Company, at GTK Road industrial area, stored chemicals, used for making ornaments, and water in the tank

ccording to the data provided by Athawale, 51,835 manual scavengers have been identified in the survey, out of which 24,932 were identified in Uttar Pradesh alone

A total of 631 people have died in the country while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in the last 10 years, the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) said

Developing technology to eliminate human involvement in sewer cleaning in India is still in the nascent stages

Despite an SC ruling, availability of modern methods of sewer cleaning, there's a clear sign of neglect and don't care attitude among the state machinery, writes Sneha Bhattacharjee

After The Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act 2013 came into being, the government recognised 12,742 manual scavengers in 13 states