MANUAL SCAVENGING: THE GROUND REALITY OF THE WORLD

UNDERNEATH
With the beginning of the year 2020, the world was introduced with a new disease. A virus previously
unnamed, now identified as coronavirus emerged from Wuhan, China. Little was it known, that soon around
10% of the global population would be affected by it and the disease thought to be an endemic would be
called the Global pandemic. Coronavirus soon became a matter of concern across the world. But, as we
progressed with time, the severity of the matter reduced, and Coronavirus became a part of our routine.
Words like Mask mandates, social distancing, and lockdown no longer remained new to us. But if we look at
a deeper perspective of this outbreak, it brought up a dormant issue back to the superficial level, which is
that of health. Coronavirus gave many countries, a reality check of the efficiency of their Health system.
India faced a state of regressive health emergency in the past two years when Covid-19 was at its peak in the
country. Inadequate cleanliness at the hospitals became a reason for further increase in the cases. All these
concerns brought our attention to the fact that, even after completing 75 years of Independence and being
called the global leader, our health system is not strong enough to uphold the nation against adversity like
this.
Sanitation and cleanliness are the two closely related aspects of the health system. Improper handling of
waste and uncleanliness in sewage pits or open drains could lead to the origin of many unknown contagious
diseases. Therefore, where it is important to address the issue of cleanliness in the country, it is equally
important to give attention to human intervention in the cleaning of sewers and septic tanks in the country,
as they are the first ones exposed to these diseases and possibly the most vulnerable of all.

MANUAL SCAVENGING: A SOCIAL STIGMA

Manual scavenging refers to the practice of manually cleaning, carrying, disposing, or handling in any
manner, human excreta from dry latrines and sewers. The practice of manual scavenging is linked to India’s
caste system where so-called lower castes were expected to perform this job. Manual scavengers are
amongst the poorest and most disadvantaged communities in India. Frequent deaths occur, as manual
scavengers don't even have adequate tools and protective gear to clean the manhole. It often involves using
the most basic of tools such as buckets, brooms, and baskets. The stigma and discrimination associated with
it linger on. This makes it difficult for liberated manual scavengers to secure alternative livelihoods. People
could once again return to manual scavenging in the absence of other opportunities to support their families.
Correctly identifying manual scavengers remains a key challenge.

GOVERNMENT’S ACTION PLAN

In 1993 Government of India took the first step in this direction and enacted the Employment of Manual
Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act. The government for the first time, brought
up the concept of prohibition of manual scavengers for manually cleaning dry latrines and the construction
of dry toilets. But, due to the lack of proper implementation on the ground level, a huge gap could be seen in
between what the act intended to achieve and where did it stand. The stigma and discrimination associated
with it lingered on, which also made it difficult for manual scavengers, who were liberated by this act, to
secure alternative livelihoods.
Later, in the year 2013, Govt. came up with The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their
Rehabilitation Act. The act was in follow up to the 1993 act and it superseded the prohibitions on dry
latrines and outlawed all manual excrement cleaning of insanitary latrines, open drains, or pits. The act
brought up the concept of mechanization of sewer cleansing, replacing manual scavenging. Most
importantly, it focused on the Rehabilitation of the Manual Scavengers, primarily to overcome the social
stigma associated with it. The law talks about the rehabilitation of these workers and their families in the
form of monetary assistance, allocation of plots and financial assistance for the same, entitlement of
scholarship for their children, concessional loan for taking any other job, and legal assistance.

GROUND REALITY OF THE STATUS QUO

All the laws which have, so far, been enacted and have been brought in the parliament to sharpen the priorly
existing laws, have lagged on very fundamental positions that none of the missions till now doesn’t get away
with the man entering the manhole. The ground reality of either of the acts has given us the true picture
contradictory to what was intended to achieve through these laws. The 2013 act lacks tools to achieve its
central objective— ‘the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers. It prohibits the employment of
manual scavengers only when protective gear, equipment, and devices are not provided to the respective
people. The stigma and discrimination make it difficult for former or liberated manual scavengers to secure
alternate livelihoods. People return to manual scavenging in the absence of other opportunities to support
their families. No conviction has ever been reported on the death of manual scavengers. Lack of budget
support for rehabilitation and High allocation in the past has not meant effective utilization. The typical
design of septic tanks makes it difficult to clean by machine after a certain point. Sewage lines once clogged
due to the solid waste dump, demand human intervention. Improper disposal of sanitary napkins, diapers, etc
clogs the drains, which machines cannot clear.

THE WAY AHEAD

Planning and implementation are two correlated aspects. No matter how well the law is planned, unless
implemented stringently, it is of least significance. No one would want to work in such perilous, sensitive
areas but as it is said, hunger could make a man do anything, jumping into these hazards is one of those
things. Therefore, it is the need of the hour to shift our focus from planning stringent to implementing
stringent so that the world may be indifferent to them.