 "manual scavenging, manual scavengers, drainage, sewage")
India banned and criminalised manual scavenging in 1993, and 20 years later, the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers And their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR Act, 2013), expanded the scope of rehabilitating manual scavengers (over 95 per cent are Dalits) and their dependents by providing for cash assistance to a member of the household, voluntary skill development training, capital subsidy and concessional loans, and scholarships for children. It also mandated the formation of central and state-level committees to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the Act.
The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment introduced the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of
