MANUAL SCAVENGING

1. Context

Three laborers in Mumbai, allegedly hired for manual scavenging, died on Thursday afternoon after inhaling toxic fumes in a septic tank. The incident took place around 3.15 pm in a public toilet. Even though manual scavenging is banned in India, the practice is still prevalent in many parts of the country.

2. What is Manual Scavenging?

Manual scavenging 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.
In 2013, the definition of manual scavengers was also broadened to include people employed to clean septic tanks, ditches, or railway tracks.
The Act recognizes manual scavenging as a “dehumanizing practice,” and cites a need to “correct the historical injustice and indignity suffered by the manual scavengers.”

3. Why Manual Scavenging is still prevalent in India?

The lack of enforcement of the act and the exploitation of unskilled laborers are the reasons why the practice is still prevalent in India.
The Mumbai civic body charges anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000 to clean septic tanks.
The unskilled laborers are much cheaper to hire and contractors illegally employ them at a daily wage of Rs 300-500.

4. Past Incidents

In January 2019, three labourers suffocated to death while cleaning a sewage treatment plant on Mira Road.
On May 3, 2019, three labourers choked to death while cleaning a septic tank in a private society in Nalasopara, near Mumbai. On May 11, three men in their 20s were killed after they inhaled toxic fumes while cleaning a septic tank at a housing society in Thane.
A BMC worker, who had entered a manhole at Nana Chowk in Mumbai died after inhaling toxic gases. And four other workers were hospitalized.
In February 2017, three labourers died while cleaning a septic tank of a residential society in Mumbai’s Malvani area. In Dombivali, a son and father died while cleaning a septic tank.

5. Constitutional Safeguards

Manual Scavenging violates a number of constitutional provisions as well.

5.1 Article 14: Equality before the law

The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth. Here, individuals are forced into such professions as they are unable to get any other job because of the stigma attached to this job and become unable to sustain their families.

5.2 Article 17: Abolition of untouchability

Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of Untouchability shall be an offense punishable in accordance with the law. According to Section 7A of the aforementioned Act, anyone who forces someone to engage in scavenging on the grounds of untouchability is considered to have enforced a disability resulting from untouchability, which is punished by imprisonment.

5.3 Article 21: Protection of life and personal liberty

No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law. Plenty of people lose lives during such unsanitary practices of scavenging and die because of suffocation, harmful gases released through sewers, and other inhumane reasons.

5.4 Article 23: Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labor

In addition to the provisions of the Constitution, India is a party to a number of international conventions and covenants that forbid the cruel practice of manual scavenging. These are the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

6. Steps were taken by the government

The government implemented the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, under which the definition has broadened and manual cleaning now goes beyond dry latrines and includes all forms of cleaning like handling in any manner, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit and railway tracks as well.
The government has implemented the Building and Maintenance of Insanitary Latrines Act of 2013 which banned the construction or maintenance of unsanitary toilets.
Along with outlawing employing any person for manual scavenging. As compensation for historical injustice and indignity, the act also establishes a constitutional obligation to offer alternative employment opportunities and other forms of support to communities that rely on manual scavenging.
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge on World Toilet Day (19th November) in 2020 to challenge all states to create a mechanized system of sewer cleaning.

For Prelims & Mains

For Prelims: Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR), Article 14, Article 17, Article 21, Article 23, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

For Mains: 1. What is Manual Scavenging? Explain why Manual Scavenging is still prevalent in India and Discuss the constitutional safeguards regarding it.

Source: The Indian Express

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