As many as 206 manual scavengers died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks between 1993 and July 2019 in Tamil Nadu, according to a government survey conducted in 170 districts in 18 States.
The deaths in Tamil Nadu were the highest among all States. Two percent of victims’ families were not compensated, whereas all victims’ families in Punjab, Gujarat and Telangana received compensation, the report said. Despite a 2013 law prohibiting employment of manual scavengers, the survey identified 54,130 people engaged in this job across India as of July 2019.
According to reports shared by social activists, nine persons lost their lives to manual scavenging this year.
The provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, have not been implemented effectively.
The Act prohibits engagement or employment, either directly or indirectly of any person for hazardous cleaning of sewer or septic tank. Deepthi Sukumar, a national coordinator of Safai Karamchari Andolan, said State framed rules under the Act and a State-level monitoring committee was constituted.
“We sent petition after petition to the authorities, but the committee has never met to discuss the implementation. Innocent lives are being lost continuously in the State,” she said.
“There is no political will to eradicate manual scavenging nor is there sufficient awareness among stakeholders or the public. There is no monitoring of progress in the implementation for past two years,” said Padaam A. Narayanan, a social activist who filed a public interest litigation in the Madras High Court for the eradication of manual scavenging.
