Manual Scavenging is the inhuman practice which involves cleaning of human excreta without any personal protective equipment with shoddy tools and most of the times involves handling with bare hands.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013” was passed by the central government. This act prohibits the employment of manual scavengers and construction of insanitary toilets. The act mandates a one-time cash assistance, scholarship for their children and a residential plot with financial assistance to construct a house to each manual scavenger so that they can kick start their life and find respite from this derogatory occupation.
However, Do you know who is the largest employer of manual scavengers?
Most arguably, it is the Indian Railways! The manual scavengers are not on the government payroll. India’s rail coaches have toilets that drop excreta straightaway on the railway track. This waste is then cleaned by the manual scavengers who are employed by contractors who have tendered in the lowest price. The fact of the matter is that if a banned activity is practiced in upon by the largest government entity in India then it’s practice in other strata of Indian society will be rampant.
According to the 2011 census, almost 2 lakh households were engaged in manual scavenging and yet the surveys conducted until October 2017 lists around 50,000 individuals engaged in manual scavenging. The real number is much higher and it employs majority of Dalit women. The states of Bihar, J&K, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana and West Bengal are yet to participate in the survey. Less than 150 out of a total of 600 districts have provided substantial data for this survey.
There are more than 26 lakh dry latrines wherein the pits need to be emptied manually. This number does not include the open septic tanks, open drains where human waste is disposed and railway tracks. A mere 50000 people can’t clean this big a mess which makes it abruptly clear that there are way more people engaged in this inhuman practice.
According to a reply given by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to the Loksabha in December 2017, 300 deaths were reported due to manual scavenging. It is astonishing that in the presence of so much waste management technology being employed in the country, manual scavenging still exist and people still die of that.
To solve a problem, the first step is to accept that the problem exists. The law mandates that this practice be stopped and manual scavengers be rehabilitated. And now, the time has come to ensure that the law is executed, enforced and followed through.
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The CSR Journal Team