NEW DELHI: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Thursday informed Parliament that there had been no deaths due to manual scavenging, but at least 131 people had died due to “the hazardous cleaning of septic tanks/sewer”.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 outlaws manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, except in exceptional circumstances with the aid of protective gear, and the definition of manual scavengers includes people cleaning sewers and septic tanks.
Experts said the statement was problematic and indicated the government was in denial of the fact that manual scavenging existed.
“The government is in denial of manual scavenging. Now that they cannot deny the deaths caused by manual scavenging... If they do not recognise the problem, there would be no solutions,” said Ashif Shaikh, convener, Rashtriya Garima AbhiyanIn response to an unstarred question on whether a large number of deaths of workers engaged in manual scavenging/sewer cleaning had been reported, Athawale said that the deaths were “due to the hazardous cleaning of septic tanks/sewer”.
To a subsequent question on whether corporations would need to mandatorily use machines for cleaning sewers and septic tanks, the minister quoted sections from the 2013 Act, which says “no person shall be allowed to clean a sewer manually, with the protective gear and safety devices” except under a few circumstances.
“Manual scavenging includes all forms of scavenging. The definition that septic and sewer tank cleaners do not come under this definition is completely wrong,” said Bezwada Wilson of Safai Karamchari Andolan. Dalits are overwhelmingly engaged in removing and disposing of human waste. “No minister can justify the killings of people cleaning sewers and septic tanks,” said Wilson.