CHENNAI: No chargesheet was filed in six cases filed under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act and eight cases filed under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the state between August 2021 to November 2022, revealed a report recently released by the Social Awareness Society for Youth (SASY).
The report was released during an event jointly organised by the SASY, Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA) and other organisations working towards the eradication of manual scavenging practice. As many as 21 cases were examined for the study, and four of them pertained to Dalit students being forced to clean toilets in schools.
Of the 21 cases, only 15 arrests were recorded in connection with nine cases. Also, a total of Rs 1.72 crore was distributed as compensation to 23 victims. “Manual scavengers, who work under the label of sanitary workers on contract basis across the state, are not provided any protective gear even as the PEMSR Act stipulates that they be supplied 44 types of gears,” said S Kalayani, assistant professor at Madras Christian College.
“The victims’ families don’t want their next generation, too, to languish in manual scavenging work. Only effective implementation of the PEMSR Act will ensure justice for the victims. The government should also take steps to construct bio-toilets, procure machinery and create awareness about health and sanitation to eradicate this inhumane practice,” she added.
Deepthi Sukumaran of SKA said chargesheet was filed in only five cases among the 21 examined. “Several incidents may have also gone unreported. The enumeration of manual scavengers under the PEMSR Act was not properly carried out by the state government. Thorough execution of the process would have guaranteed the victims a one-time financial assistance. Though we collected and submitted 2,800 self-declaration forms in Chennai and Madurai alone over the years, cash assistance was provided to only around 300 persons. Most often, people who die during manual scavenging will be those who were not enumerated,” she added.
Deepthi also slammed the union government for claiming that there had been no manual scavenging deaths in the country over the past three years. “There is an attempt to dilute the PEMSR Act and it should be fiercely opposed,” she further said. Activists also said the disbursal of compensation to victims in these cases is generally used as a tactic to silence the bereaved families and allow the caste discrimination to carry on, as the majority of the victims belong to the SC community.
It may be noted that as per a report from SKA, Tamil Nadu ranks first in the number of deaths due to manual scavenging in the country. As many as 218 deaths were reported between 1993 and 2022 in the state. From 2016 to 2022, as many as 55 persons lost their lives to this demeaning practice, with the majority of the deaths reported in Chennai and surrounding areas.
‘We should fiercely oppose attempt to dilute Act’
Deepthi slammed the Centre for claiming that there had been no manual scavenging deaths in India over the past three years. “There is an attempt to dilute PEMSR Act and it should be fiercely opposed,” she said. Activists also said the disbursal of compensation to victims in these cases is generally used as a tactic to silence the bereaved families