Govindan and Subharayalu started their day like any other on May 1, International Labour Day. They went to Emmanuel Higher Secondary School at Minjur in Tiruvallur district, located near Chennai, for work. The labour involved manual scavenging, as they needed to clean sewer lines using hands, a practice long banned by the government through the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act implemented in 1993. However, the Act remains only on paper since employing manual scavengers still continues across the country.
On the insistence of their contractor, Govindan and Subharayalu entered the septic tank without safety gears. While cleaning the tank, the two became unconscious and collapsed after inhaling the poisonous gas inside. Both the workers died on the spot, as reported by the media.
Not just the employment of manual scavengers, but deaths due to manual scavenging are also prevalent in the country. Last year, the Union government informed the Lok Sabha that no one died due to manual scavenging in the country in three years between 2019 and 2022. However, the government did say that 233 people died due to "accidents" while undertaking "hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks".
In the last three decades, according to data accessed by ABP Live on the number of sewer/septic tank deaths from 1993 to 2023, the country has reported 1,081 deaths due to manual scavenging. The data, which was furnished by the government, is in reference to information received from states, union territories and media reports and complaints directly received by the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis.
Among the 1,081 deaths, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of 225 deaths due to manual scavenging. The second highest number was reported from Gujarat (156), followed by Uttar Pradesh (122).
The Safai Karmachari Andolan, a non-statutory body of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, which works to eradicate manual scavenging in the country, had put forth several reasons for the continuance of the banned practice and proposed measures to be implemented by the government, especially in Tamil Nadu.
Lack Of Awareness: More Deaths Reported In Residential Complex, Private Companies
Speaking to ABP Live, National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Chairperson M Venkatesan said: "The workers are undertaking manual scavenging since they do not have adequate salary. The workers get Rs 500-700 a day through this work. They are made to work as contract labourers. They are not permanent workers. So, they continue to do the work to meet their everyday needs.”
He said these labourers would not undertake such work if they got permanent jobs. In Tamil Nadu, he alleged, government did not provide them with adequate pay in the past three decades.
According to Venkatesan, deaths usually take place more in residential complexes and commercial buildings. Deaths due to manual scavenging in public places are rare.
“The major reasons for the practice to continue is the lack of awareness in private companies and residential complexes. Extensive efforts should have been undertaken since 1993 so that the practice could reduce by now,” he said.
Venkatesan said adeqaute awareness was not created on the 2013 manual scavenging Act either.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (MS Act, 2013) focuses on stopping employment of people as manual scavengers, and providing rehabilitation for manual scavengers and their families and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Venkatesan also pitched for robotic sewer cleaners to replace manual scavengers.
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Need To Popularise Robotic Scavenging Machine
Stating that the residential complex and firms do not use mechanised methods for manual scavenging, Venkatesan said lack of awareness stops them from using modern methods. “If they have adequate awareness they will use mechanisms to tackle the problem. So, the duty of giving awareness lies with the government."
Venkatsan said there is also lack of infrastructure since many civic bodies do not have machines for manual scavenging. "Bringing machines is important. However, most of the civic bodies do not have machines to do scavenging works,” he said.
As providing awareness is also an extensive task, Venkatesan said workers under Swachh Bharat scheme can be equipped to provide awareness on the issue. The labour department, Pollution Control Board, sewage control board can be pressed into service for spreading the information, he added.
How To Rectify Government's Failure?
Venkatesan said the government should do away with outsourcing, and establish cooperative organisations to make the employees into employers.
"Outsourcing has become a norm in sanitation. However, the average amount fixed by the government for these workers does not reach them. The contractors do not give the exact sum fixed by the government and swindle a portion of it,” he said.
Even with contractual labour, the government can use Direct Payment System (DPS) wherein the salary directly reaches the workers, he said.
As another step, Venkatesan said, cooperative organisations can be formed to undertake tenders through which the workers will get PF, ESI, salary, leave and other benefits.
The commission chairman also said the government should start safai karamchari commissions at state levels across the country. On the lines of the National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation (NSKFD) loan schemes, which offer financial assistance to manual scavengers, monetary help should also be provided through state bodies, he said.