Families of 10 Safai Karmacharis, who died while cleaning manholes, drains or septic tans were handed over cheques of ₹10 lakh each at a programme held on the premises of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday.
Observing that manual scavenging was an inhuman practice, the Supreme Court in the past suggested to the Centre to abolish it and ensure it was not practised anywhere. Following this, the Centre had brought out the Prohibition of the Employment as Manual Scavenger and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
The Safai Karmachari Andolan had been agitating that this Act was being violated by government and private institutions. After hearing a plea on this matter, the Supreme Court had passed a direction that authorities should pay a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the family of a karmachari who dies while engaging in scavenging work.
Telangana High Court Chief Justice, Raghvendra Singh Chauhan had taken initiative to ensure families of karmacharis who died while working got the compensation as per the Act. With the CJ’s directions, the Telangana State Legal Services Authority (TSLSA) collected details of the deceased karmacharis.
The TSLSA persuaded the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board authorities, and the latter agreed to pay the compensation. At a programme held at the High Court, the cheques were given to the families of the 10 victims.
Speaking on the occasion, the CJ said the judiciary was learning about the grievances of different sections of people through media.
The deaths of karmacharis would not have drawn the attention of the judiciary if those stories were not published by the newspapers, he said.
Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao, Justice A. Abhishek Reddy and Mayor Bonthu Ram Mohan were present on the occasion.
