SKA focuses on strategies, technology that can eliminate manual scavenging

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan may have increased access to toilets but it has not been able to eliminate manual scavenging

Consider this: Since the Manual Scavenger Act 2013 came into effect, 937 sewer cleaners have lost their lives. As per the 2011 census, there are more than 2.6 million dry latrines in India that require cleaning by hand. Yet, the much-vaunted Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which has definitely improved people’s access to toilets — has done little to uplift the people who still manually clean them. “In all these years, we have sent rockets into space but haven’t managed to implement efficient technologies to clean sewer lines and drains without manual intervention across the country,” says Bezwada Wilson, national convener of