Over one-third of districts in India, accounting for 508 out of 766 districts, have yet to declare themselves free from manual scavenging, according to an official document from the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Despite the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act banning the practice, manual scavenging continues to persist in approximately 34% of the country’s districts.
The Ministry of Social Justice has consistently informed Parliament in the past two years that no deaths related to manual scavenging have been recorded. However, between 2017 and 2021, accidents while clearing sewers and septic tanks claimed the lives of 330 individuals, as acknowledged by the ministry.
The definition of manual scavengers has been a point of contention. According to M Shivanna Kote, the Chairperson of Karnataka Safai Karmachari Commission, those appointed by local bodies such as panchayats and municipalities are technically considered manual scavengers.
Interestingly, daily-wage workers are often the victims of fatal incidents related to manual scavenging.
The Ministry of Social Justice has also outlined the count of districts free from manual scavenging in a booklet released to showcase the achievements of the Narendra Modi government since 2014.
In response to The Hindu’s question on why the other districts did not declare that they were free from manual scavenging, Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar replied: “Whatever information has been received from the states, municipal bodies – all have said manual scavenging does not take place anymore. They have all identified collectively over 58,000 manual scavengers…Whoever has decided to do something else on their own, we are connecting them to skills training centres.”
The Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers, established in 2007, was introduced to provide skill training to manual scavengers.
However, budgetary allocations for the scheme have declined since 2019, according to a parliamentary reply from the Ministry of Social Justice in March.
The Union Budget for 2019-2020 initially allocated Rs 110 crore for the scheme but was revised to Rs 99.93 crore. In the following fiscal year, the budget estimate was Rs 110 crore, with a revised estimate of Rs 30 crore. In the 2021-2022 Budget, the initial allocation was Rs 100 crore, but the revised estimate was Rs 43.31 crore.
Notably, this year’s budget did not allocate any funds to the scheme as it was merged with the National Action Plan for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) initiative, with the government claiming that manual scavenging no longer occurs in the country.
Under the previous Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers, a total of 58,098 manual scavengers were identified and provided with a one-time cash payout.
