Prevalence of Manual Scavenging

Context- The government has been ordered by the Supreme Court to record its actions to implement its nearly 10-year-old decision to end manual scavenging and prevent future generations from engaging in the “inhuman practice” of entering sewers without safety gear, even in emergency situations.

Key Highlights

• Despite being outlawed by the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, and the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, a Bench recently noted that manual scavenging continues to occur, resulting in the deaths of people trapped in flooded sewer lines.
• In its decision in Safai Karamchari Andolan And Others vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India reiterated the prohibition and mandated the rehabilitation of individuals who had previously been employed as manual scavengers, whether informally or traditionally. 
• Their “rehabilitation based on the principles of justice and transformation” was called for in the judgment. The court had emphasized that “persons released from manual scavenging should not have to cross hurdles to receive what is their legitimate due under the law.”
• The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, and the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment were named as respondents by the court. 
• In the 2014 Safai Karamchari case, the court ordered, among other welfare measures, a one-time cash assistance to manual scavengers, housing for them, training in livelihood skills for at least one member of their families, concessional loans to help them stay financially stable and find work, and compensation of 10 lakh for sewer deaths. “Take time-bound strategy to end manual scavenging on the tracks,” it had instructed the railroads.
• The court had instructed the government to “identify the families of all persons who have died in sewerage work (manholes, septic tanks) since 1993 and award compensation of 10 lakh for each such death to the family members relying on them.”

Manual Scavenging

• “The removal of human excrement from public streets and dry latrines, cleaning septic tanks, gutters, and sewers” is the definition of manual scavenging.
• The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR) of India outlawed the practice.
• The Act prohibits anyone from manually cleaning, transporting, disposing of, or otherwise handling human feces until it is disposed of.
• Manual scavenging is deemed a “dehumanizing practice” by the Act.

Why is there such a high rate of manual scavenging?

• Negative Attitude:

• • • A number of independent surveys have discussed the state governments’ continued reluctance to admit that the practice is prevalent under their watch.

• Problems Caused by Outsourcing:

• • • Local governments frequently contract private contractors to clean sewers. However, many of these shady operators fail to properly maintain sanitation worker rosters.
    • These contractors have denied any connection to the deceased workers in case after case of asphyxiated deaths.

• Social Problem:

• • Caste, class, and income disparities are at the heart of the practice.
  • It has to do with India’s caste system, which says that “lower caste” people should do this job.
  • The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, outlawed manual scavenging in India in 1993, but the stigma and discrimination associated with it persist.
  • This makes it hard for freed manual scavengers to find new ways to make a living.

What measures are taken to combat the threat posed by manual scavenging?

• The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020:

• • • It proposes completely mechanizing the cleaning of sewers, establishing methods for “on-site” protection, and compensating manual scavengers in the event of sewer deaths.
    • The 2013 Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act will be amended.
    • It still needs to be approved by the cabinet.

• The Building and Maintenance of Insanitary Latrines Act of 2013:

• • • It prohibits the construction or upkeep of unsanitary toilets, the hiring of anyone to perform manual scavenging, and the risky cleaning of septic tanks and sewers.
    • In addition, it establishes a constitutional obligation to provide manual scavenger communities with alternative employment opportunities and other assistance as restitution for past wrongs.

• Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act, 1989:

• • • More than 90% of people employed as manual scavengers belonged to the Scheduled Caste when the Prevention of Atrocities Act became an integrated guard for sanitation workers in 1989. In order to free manual scavengers from designated traditional occupations, this became an important landmark.

• Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge

• • • On World Toilet Day, November 19th, 2020, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched it.
    • The government issued this “challenge” to all states to automate sewer cleaning by April 2021. In the event that a human needs to enter a sewer line in an unavoidable emergency, appropriate equipment, oxygen tanks, etc., must be present. are going to be given.

• Swachhta Abhiyan:

• • • It was created to identify and geotag the data of manual scavengers and unsanitary latrines so that unsanitary latrines can be converted to sanitary ones and all manual scavengers can be rehabilitated to restore their dignity.

• National Action Plan for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE):

• • The MoSJ&E and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs are working together on the NAMASTE program, which aims to end unsafe practices for cleaning septic tanks and sewers.

Way Forward

• The 15th Finance Commission has identified the Swachh Bharat Mission as a top priority, and there are funds available for smart cities and urban development, making a strong case to address the issue of manual scavenging.
• It is necessary to first acknowledge and then comprehend how and why manual scavenging continues to be ingrained in the caste system in order to address the social sanction behind it.
• To accurately assess and, ultimately, eradicate this practice, society and the state must take an active interest in the issue and investigate all options.

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