MANUAL SCAVENGING – SOCIAL ISSUE
News: Poverty,
caste-discrimination at the root of manual scavenging, reveals study
What's in the news?
● According
to the report, the majority of the cases were not recorded properly and would
not have come to light.
● From
the 21 fact finding cases, the report found that the victims were mostly from
Scheduled Castes.
Key takeaways:
● They
know it is an inhuman and degrading job
rooted in caste-based discrimination and passed on to successive generations,
but the sanitary workers continue to undertake manual scavenging as employers
exploit them, and at times are cruel as well.
● The
workers, the women especially, continue to do so to sustain the family and to
educate their children so that the scourge ends with them.
Manual Scavenging:
● Manual
scavenging is defined as “the manual removal of human excrement from public
streets and dry latrines, cleaning septic tanks, gutters and sewers by
humans".
Why is manual scavenging a persistent issue in India?
1. Low awareness:
● Manual
scavenging is mostly done by the marginalized section of the society and they
are generally not aware about their rights.
2. Enforcement issues:
● The
lack of enforcement of the Act and exploitation of unskilled labourers are the
reasons why the practice is still prevalent in India.
3. High cost of automated:
● The
Mumbai civic body charges anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000 to clean
septic tanks.
4. Cheaper availability:
● The
unskilled labourers, meanwhile, are much cheaper to hire and contractors
illegally employ them at a daily wage of Rs 300-500.
5. Caste dynamics:
● Caste
hierarchy still exists and it reinforces the caste’s relation with occupation.
Almost all the manual scavengers belong to lower castes.
6. Lack of clear data
about the number of deaths related to manual scavenging.
7. Lack of funds
in the corporation and municipalities to invest in mechanized sanitation. This
leads to outsourcing from private contractors. These private contractors, in
order to reduce the labor cost, exploit the sewers without providing proper
safety gears.
Measures taken by Government
1. Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and
their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020:
● It
proposes to completely mechanize sewer cleaning, introduce ways for ‘on-site’
protection and provide compensation to manual scavengers in case of sewer deaths.
2. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers
and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013:
● Superseding
the 1993 Act, the 2013 Act goes beyond prohibitions on dry latrines, and
outlaws all manual excrement cleaning of insanitary latrines, open drains, or
pits.
3. National Commission Safai Karamcharis:
● Recommend
to the central government specific programmes of action towards elimination of
inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities for Safai Karamcharis.
● Study
and evaluate the implementation of the programmes and schemes relating to the
social and economic rehabilitation of Safai Karamcharis; and scavengers, in
particular.
4. NAMASTE (National Action Plan for Mechanized
Sanitation Ecosystem), is a joint initiative of the Department of Drinking
Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
It
aims to achieve outcomes like:
1.
Zero fatalities in sanitation work in India
2.
No sanitation workers come in direct contact with human faecal matter
3.
All Sewer and Septic tank sanitation workers have access to alternative
livelihoods.
5. SRMS - Self-employment
scheme for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers.
6. Compensation:
As per the Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their
Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act, 2013 and the Supreme Court’s decision in the Safai
Karamchari Andolan vs Union of India case, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh is
awarded to the victims family.
7. Swachhta Abhiyan App:
It has been developed to identify and geotag the data of insanitary latrines
and manual scavengers so that it can be replaced with sanitary latrines and
rehabilitate all the manual scavengers to provide dignity of life to them.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Empowering Local Administration:
With Swachh Bharat Mission identified as a top priority area by the 15th
Finance Commission and funds available for smart cities and urban development
providing for a strong case to address the problem of manual scavenging.
2. Social Sensitization:
To address the social sanction behind manual scavenging, it is required first
to acknowledge and then understand how and why manual scavenging continues to
be embedded in the caste system.
3. State and Society needs to take Interest:
The state and society needs to take active interest in the issue and look into
all possible options to accurately assess and subsequently eradicate this
practice.