The State government has informed the Madras High Court that out of 144 identified families of deceased manual scavengers, 141 have been duly compensated (₹10 lakh each) as directed by the Supreme Court.
G. Laxmi Priya, Joint Secretary, Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department, made the submission on the public interest litigation (PIL) petition moved by CHANGE India, a non-governmental organisation, seeking adequate compensation as mandated by the Supreme Court to the families of deceased involved in manual scavenging.
Asserting that the State government is committed to expeditious payment of compensation to the dependants of sewer/septic tank death victims and implementation of provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, Ms. Priya said: “Out of 94,389 insanitary latrines, 68,515 have been converted into sanitary latrines, either by connecting with underground sewerage system or by providing septic tanks. Another 15,294 insanitary latrines have been demolished. Action is being taken in respect of the remaining 10,580 insanitary latrines, for conversion by April 2017.”
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, 1.73 lakh individual household toilets have been built at a cost of ₹144.80 crore.
Welcoming the progress, the petitioner CHANGE India, represented by its director A. Narayanan, submitted his sincere appreciation to the Sate government for making progress in ensuring rightful compensation to 141 families of deceased manual scavengers. However, he pointed out that meaningful steps had not been taken to conduct repeat camps as directed by the court and identify manual scavengers working in local bodies so that the rehabilitation measures could reach them without delay and inhuman occupation of manual scavenging could be eliminated from permanently.
