National Safai Karamchari Commission member Jagadish Hiremani on Thursday warned of stringent action as the menace of manual scavenging continued though in a different form after the ban of dry latrines.
Bringing to the fore the dark side of the India’s silcon valley, he said three persons who were engaged to clean a manhole in Bengaluru had paid with their lives recently.
At a maiden review meeting with Prakasam Joint Collector S. Nagalakshmi and other officials here, he said it was unfortunate 63 sanitary workers had died even after the Karnataka government had submitted an affidavit before the Supreme Court that manual scavenging practice was not in vogue.
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He wanted the officials to launch a special drive to identify manual scavenging in interior villages and also put in place a regulatory mechanism to oversee the functioning of private players involved in cleaning clogged septic tanks and blocked drains.
“You cannot be complacent saying no deaths had occurred. The Commission, empowered to file criminal cases, will not hesitate to take stern action after fixing responsibility in case of death of any sanitary worker cleaning private septic tanks,” he said and suggested use of machines for the purpose.
Lauding the Ongole Municipal Corporation (OMC) for figuring in the list of 100 clean cities in the Swachh Sarveshan ranking in 2017, he wanted the officials to draw up an action plan to improve the living conditions of the sanitary workers whose efforts had fetched the recognition.
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Benefits
He wanted the officials to ensure houses for all sanitary workers and reimbursement of fee of their wards studying in private schools, besides providing scholarship to them.
He asked the district officials to also arrange for adoption of about 2,000 sanitary workers in the district by government and private hospitals by splitting them into smaller groups of 10 to 20 workers and ensure medical examination for them periodically with special focus on identifying liver and lung ailments.
Each worker requiring specialised treatment would be provided up to ₹5 lakh under the Centre’s Ambedkar Medical Aid Scheme, he said.
Minimum wages
Later, All India Trade Union Congress district president Sd. Sardar brought to the attention of the Commission member that sanitary workers in the Medical and Health Department and urban and rural local bodies were paid different amounts ranging between ₹12,000 and ₹3,000 per month for the same work.
He demanded payment of a minimum monthly wage of ₹18,000 going by the Supreme Court direction on payment of equal pay for equal work.