Context: Recently, some labourers in Mumbai, allegedly hired for manual scavenging, died after inhaling toxic fumes in a septic tank. 

• Even though manual scavenging is banned in India, the practice is still prevalent in many parts of the country.

About Manual Scavenging

• Manual scavenging is the practice of removing human excreta by hand from sewers or septic tanks. 
• It is mostly carried out by a subgroup of the Dalits, an outcast community also known as “untouchables" within India’s ancient system of caste hierarchies.
• “Untouchables” are often impoverished, shunned by society and forbidden from touching Indians of other castes, or even their food.
• India banned the practice under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR). 
• The Act bans the use of any individual for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta till its disposal.

Why is it still prevalent in India?

• Low awareness: Manual scavenging is mostly done by the marginalized section of the society and they are generally not aware about their rights.
• Enforcement issues: The lack of enforcement of the Act and exploitation of unskilled labourers are the reasons why the practice is still prevalent in India.
• High cost of automated: The Mumbai civic body charges anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000 to clean septic tanks.
• Cheaper availability: The unskilled labourers, meanwhile, are much cheaper to hire and contractors illegally employ them at a daily wage of Rs 300-500.
• Caste dynamics: Caste hierarchy still exists and it reinforces the caste’s relation with occupation. Almost all the manual scavengers belong to lower castes.

Various policy initiatives

• Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020: It proposes to completely mechanise sewer cleaning, introduce ways for ‘on-site’ protection and provide compensation to manual scavengers in case of sewer deaths.
• Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013: Superseding the 1993 Act, the 2013 Act goes beyond prohibitions on dry latrines, and outlaws all manual excrement cleaning of insanitary latrines, open drains, or pits.
• Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan: It started national wide march “Maila Mukti Yatra” for total eradication of manual scavenging from 30th November 2012 from Bhopal.
• Prevention of Atrocities Act: In 1989, the Prevention of Atrocities Act became an integrated guard for sanitation workers since majority of the manual scavengers belonged to the Scheduled Caste.
• Compensation: As per the Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act, 2013 and the Supreme Court’s decision in the Safai Karamchari Andolan vs Union of India case, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh is awarded to the victims family.

Supreme Court Directions

• The Supreme Court issued directions in 2014 to prevent and control the practice and also to prosecute the offenders.
• It also directed the government to pay a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh rupees to the family members of those killed in acts of manual scavenging since 1993.

Constitutional Safeguards

• The Right to Live with Dignity is implicit in the Fundamental Rights guaranteed in Part III of the Constitution. 
• Article 46 of the Constitution, on the other hand, provides that the State shall protect the weaker sections particularly, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.

Road Ahead

• The Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should make expansion of the sewer network a top priority and come up with a scheme for scientific maintenance that will end the manual cleaning of septic tanks. 
• The laws should be enforced vigorously to eliminate manual scavenging in its entirety.
• There should be trials and testing of protective gears and provisions for better healthcare facilities, insurance cover, pension plans and regulations on preventive and social medicine education for the manual scavengers.
• Regular surveys and social audits must be conducted against the involvement of manual scavengers by public and local authorities.
• There must be proper identification and capacity building of manual scavengers for alternate sources of livelihood. Creating awareness about the legal protection of manual scavengers is necessary.