Problem of manual scavenging eliminated, claims Union Social Justice Ministry panel

Source: The post is based on the article “Problem of manual scavenging eliminated, claims Union Social Justice Ministry panel” published in The Hindu on 5th July 2023

What is the News?

The Central Monitoring Committee of the Union Social Justice Ministry has concluded that the issue of manual scavenging has been eliminated.

The ministry claimed this despite noting that only 520 of the 766 districts across the country are free of manual scavenging.

This means that manual scavenging continues to be prevalent in nearly 34% of the districts in India even though the practice is banned under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act.

What is Manual Scavenging?

Click Here to read

Deaths due to Manual Scavenging:

In 2022, 48 people had died due to hazardous cleaning of sewers in 2022.This number was 49 in 2021, 19 in 2020, and 117 in 2019.

However, government has for the last few years insisted that manual scavenging no longer exists in the country and has made a distinction between such instances and deaths due to hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.

What are the steps taken against Manual Scavenging?

NAMASTE Scheme

Scheme for rehabilitation of manual scavengers: Under this, the 58,000 identified sewer workers have been given a one-time cash payout of ₹40,000 each. 

– In addition, around 22,000 of them have been connected to skills training programmes. Subsidies and loans are also available to them if they want to set up their own business.