Will go to ‘any extent possible’ to eradicate manual scavenging: SC

Sub : Schemes

Sec: Marginalised section

Context:

The Supreme Court of India has expressed its strong commitment to eradicating manual scavenging and hazardous manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, calling these practices a violation of human dignity.
The court expressed strong dissatisfaction with the lack of progress in implementing the court’s 2023 order.
Despite the enactment of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, these practices continue to persist in various parts of the country.

Background:

On October 20, 2023, the Supreme Court of India issued a landmark judgment directing both the Union and State governments to take concrete steps to eliminate manual scavenging and hazardous manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks across the country.
The court noted that claims of fraternity, equality, and dignity were undermined if a significant section of society was still subjected to these hazardous and degrading tasks.
The court further questioned the effectiveness of government schemes like NAMASTE (National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem), which were designed to mechanize sewer cleaning but had not yielded results on the ground.

Enhanced compensation for Sewer deaths:

One of the key provisions in the October 2023 judgment was an increase in compensation for families of workers who die while cleaning sewers or septic tanks.
The compensation was raised to ₹30 lakh from the earlier ₹10 lakh to provide better financial support to the victims’ families.

What is manual scavenging:

It is the practice of removing human excreta by hand from sewers or septic tanks.
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.

Salient Features of the PEMSR Act 2013:

It bans manual scavenging and widened the definition of manual scavengers – to include all forms of manual removal of human excreta like an open drain, pit latrine, septic tanks, manholes and removal of excreta on the railway tracks.
It calls for a survey of manual scavenging in urban and rural areas and the conversion of insanitary latrines into sanitary latrines.
It makes it obligatory for employers to provide protective tools to the workers.
It lays key focus on rehabilitating the manual scavengers by providing them with ready-built houses, financial assistance and loans for taking up alternate occupation on a sustainable basis.
The offense of manual scavenging has been made cognizable and non-bailable.

NAMASTE Scheme:

The National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem scheme is an initiative by the Government of India aimed at eliminating manual scavenging and ensuring the mechanization of sanitation practices, particularly for cleaning sewers and septic tanks.
It was launched in 2022 as a Central Sector Scheme and is being undertaken jointly by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
The project aims to achieve:
- Zero fatalities in sanitation work in India.
- All sanitation work to be performed by skilled workers.
- No sanitation workers should come in direct contact with human faecal matter.
- Sanitation workers are to be collectivized into SHGs and are empowered to run sanitation enterprises.
- All Sewer and Septic tank sanitation workers (SSWs) have access to alternative livelihoods.