Manual scavenging has been completely eliminated from the hill State of Himachal Pradesh; this was stated by the State Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Col. Dhani Ram Shandil in the conference of State Ministers on the implementation of provisions of Manual Scavengers and Rehabilitation Act, 2013 in Delhi on Wednesday. Mr. Shandil said that Himachal has become manual scavenger free State after the formation of district level vigilance committees under the chairmanship of deputy commissioners to ensure the proper implementation of this Act.
Rehabilitated
He said the families who were obligated earlier to work in these inhuman and insanitary services have now been rehabilitated with proper financial help and their children are also given assistance for going to schools and take up jobs elsewhere.
The affected members of such families were also being given a stipend of Rs. 3,000 per month for skill development training, he added.
Mr. Shandil disclosed that the State government had constituted a State Level Monitoring Committee to ensure the effective implementation of the Act so that the affected families and their wards could get proper training and rehabilitation facilities for their livelihood.
The practice of manual scavenging was quite common in various small towns and villages of the hill State a few years ago.
