Will the Scourge of Manual Scavenging Ever End?

Safai Karamchari Andolan has been conducting a countrywide campaign for the eradication of manual scavenging. Now, this campaign has been extended to cover the issues of sewerage workers, who are all casual labourers, and are forced to clean manholes and blocked drains without any protective gear. In a significant endorsement of concerns raised by the Safai Karmachari Andolan, the Supreme Court directed the government to, “Identify the families of all persons who have died in sewerage work since 1993 and award compensation of Rs 10 lakh for each such death to the family members depending on them”. In its judgment by a Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam, the court categorically said that if the practice of manual scavenging has to be brought to a close and also to prevent future generations from the inhuman practice of manual scavenging, rehabilitation of manual scavengers will need to be carried out.