377 died cleaning sewers in five years, but no instance of manual scavenging reported, says Centre

While 377 persons died between 2019 and 2023 due to “hazardous cleaning” of sewers and septic tanks, there were no reported instances of the practice of manual scavenging in the country during the same period, Union social justice minister Ramdas Athawale told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Manual scavenging, which is the practice of removing human excreta by hand from sewer lines or septic tanks, is banned under the 2013 Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act.

The practice remains prevalent in several parts of the country.

Two surveys conducted in 2013 and 2018 to identify erstwhile manual scavengers placed the total number of persons engaged in the activity at 58,098, Athawale told the House.

Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of manual scavengers at 32,473, according to the data shared by the government. Maharashtra came second with 6,325 manual scavengers and Uttarakhand with 4,988.

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Athavale shared the data in response to a question about the total number of individuals engaged in manual scavenging. Two Opposition MPs had also asked whether the government had taken any steps to implement the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act.

Athawale said that the Centre had requested states and Union territories to implement the provisions of the Act and that the Union housing and urban affairs ministry had issued standard operating procedures for the cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.

The minister also said that the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem was being implemented in all urban local bodies to ensure there are no fatalities caused by sanitation work and that no worker comes in direct contact with human faecal matter.

The minister added: “The scheme also formalises sewer septic tank workers by profiling them, providing occupational safety training, safety and extension of health insurance to ensure safe cleaning with mechanised equipment and enhancing their digital.”

In July 2023, the Union social justice ministry’s Central Monitoring Committee claimed that the practice of manual scavenging had been eliminated. The claim was made despite the fact that the practice had been eliminated in only 520 of the country’s 766 districts.

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