Drawing flak for its failure to check manual scavenging, which has killed at least 900 manual scavengers while cleaning sewers or septic tanks since 1993, the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry will soon launch a scheme aimed at introducing sustainable solutions to prevent such fatalities.
The scheme has already been formulated under the ministry's plan for mechanised cleaning of sewers and septic tanks to eliminate manual scavenging, said a senior official from the Ministry on the condition of anonymity.
According to official data, over 900 workers have died while cleaning sewers or septic tanks since 1993 but activists say the number is much higher as many are involved in manual scavenging.
The government does not identify deaths due to manual scavenging but calls them deaths due to hazardous cleaning of septic tanks and sewers.
Manual scavenging is banned under the Prohibition of Employment As Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
It is one of the most important government interventions for manual scavengers. Implemented by the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) more than ten years ago, it is far from meeting its goals.
Launched in 2007, the objective of SRMS was to rehabilitate manual scavengers and their dependents in alternative occupations by 2009.
The scheme was revised in November 2013 until 2016-17. The Act prohibits insanitary latrines, manual scavenging and hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. The scheme has since then been extended periodically, with very little outcome progress.
The Ministry had told the Rajya Sabha recently that it could not confirm the existence of any insanitary latrines, concluding that the practice of manual scavenging does not exist anymore.
However, this does not correlate with the findings of Census 2011 that 26 lakh insanitary latrines existed.
Further, it is important to remember that while manual scavenging under Section 2(1) (g) of the PEMSR Act, 2013 is defined as the lifting of human excreta from insanitary latrines, it is not just limited to dry latrines, but also applies to cleaning sewers, septic tanks and railway tracks as India has not fully mechanised these processes yet.