The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has asked the Delhi government to share the status of payment of compensation to families of those who died while cleaning septic tanks in the city.
According to the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK), 44 people died in Delhi between 1993 and 2019 while cleaning septic tanks and sewers.
The Supreme Court had directed that payment of compensation of ₹10 lakh be made to persons who died in sewage work since 1993. It is advised that the pending payments be made as early as possible. The status of such deaths and payment of compensation be updated to the commission, the NCSC said.
The details of one-time cash assistance for rehabilitation of manual scavengers and skill training provided to such persons should also be provided, the commission said in a letter to Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar Dev and Secretary, Social Welfare Department, Rashmi Singh.
The NCSC has also asked the city government to share data related to the coverage of SC households under the Centre's schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
It has also sought information about action taken to improve the health and education parameters of the SC population in the city.
According to the letter, the commission has suggested dropping "caste-indicated" words from the names of colonies and schools, if any, in Delhi.
