Editorial: No dignity in such deaths

This week, two men died of asphyxiation when they stepped into a septic tank of a private school at Minjur. The police arrested the school correspondent for failing to provide the sanitary workers with the Minjur Town Panchayat the necessary safety equipment. The police had booked the correspondent under sections 304(a) of the IPC along with the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The recent episode is a throwback to an incident that occurred in January last year, when three persons died in Chennai after inhaling toxic gas while cleaning a sewer pit. As many as 43 people have lost their lives in TN while engaging in manual scavenging in 2021, as per government records. The numbers aren’t surprising in a nation where 308 people have died cleaning hazardous sewers and septic tanks over the last few years (2018-2022).

The Minister of State for Social justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale informed the Parliament regarding this last month. The highest number of deaths (52) took place in Tamil Nadu, which was trailed by UP (46), Haryana (40), Maharashtra (38), Delhi (33), making up 65% of the national cases. Around 23 deaths each were reported in Karnataka and Gujarat as well, the latter of which recorded eight fatalities between March 22 and April 26 this year itself. The government had offered full compensation to as many as 240 of the victims’ kin over the past five years. Ironically, the Minister said there were no reports of people currently being engaged in manual scavenging in India, a practice banned under the aforementioned MS Act, 2013. Sadly, the budgetary allocations made towards the Self-Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers has significantly dipped since 2019.

In that year, the government set aside Rs 110 cr in the Union Budget, but the revised estimate was just Rs 99.9 cr. Similarly, for 2020-21, the Budget estimate earmarked Rs 110 cr, but the revised estimate was a paltry Rs 30 cr. A year later, the story was the same, with budgetary allocations promising Rs 100 cr, but translating only to Rs 43.3 cr as per revised estimates. The funds that were finally released over the last three years were also considerably lower – Rs 84.8 cr in 2019-20, Rs 16.6 cr in 2020-21, and Rs 39.6 cr in 2021-22. The workers who died were employed by private contractors outsourced by the civic bodies, government agencies or even private institutions. Unfortunately, the burden of such fatalities is borne by individuals hailing from marginalised communities – Dalits, tribals or minorities.

To remedy the situation, last year, the State had notified the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules, 2022 in the gazette. Per the rules, anyone engaged to clean a sewer or a septic tank must be provided with 44 items of protective gear and safety devices. Provision of a supervisor, as well as a first aid and CPR-trained professional to monitor such workers as well as fixing a time limit on the conduct of such activities, as in only during the day time, and not for a period exceeding 90 minutes, have also been mandated.

Tamil Nadu also notified a re-constitution of district-level and sub-division level committees under the aforementioned rules. The panels must advise district collectors on the measures to implement the Act and oversee the rehabilitation of scavengers. A monthly meeting has also been planned by the TN Department of Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, which introduced the notifications on the rehabilitation committees. With such strong safeguards in place, the enforcement of these rules should not take a backseat.