246 Districts Yet to Declare Themselves Free of Manual Scavenging as August Deadline Approaches
With the August deadline for declaring all districts in India manual scavenging free quickly approaching, 246 districts have yet to submit reports to self-declare themselves free of insanitary latrines and the practice. Out of a total of 766 districts, 520 have confirmed that they are free from manual scavenging.
According to officials from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, defaulting states need to either declare their districts free from manual scavenging or provide details on the mobile app of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers associated with them. This is necessary for the rehabilitation benefits to be extended to manual scavengers and for the conversion of insanitary latrines into sanitary ones under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
The matter was discussed at the eighth meeting of the Central Monitoring Committee, chaired by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar. An official urged all states to submit a report on the status of the remaining districts, as the government is committed to the vision of declaring all districts in the country free from manual scavenging by August 2023.
All chief secretaries were requested in August 2020 to declare districts free from manual scavenging. All states and district collectors have been reminded 20 times so far, officials said.
Some states are lagging behind in declaring themselves manual scavenging free. For example, in Telangana, while 10 districts have self-declared themselves free, 23 districts are still waiting to submit their reports. In Maharashtra, 15 districts are free from manual scavenging, but reports are awaited from 21 districts. Similarly, in Odisha, 12 districts are free from the practice, and reports are awaited from 18 districts.
Manual scavenging has been banned in the country under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Rehabilitation Act, 2013. Two surveys conducted in 2013 and 2018 identified a total of 58,098 manual scavengers. These individuals have all been provided one-time cash assistance of Rs 40,000. Additionally, 22,294 identified manual scavengers have received skill development training, and 2,313 individuals who availed bank loans for self-employment projects have been granted capital subsidies.
To address any potential oversights, the Ministry launched the ‘Swachhata Abhiyan’ mobile app in December 2020 to identify insanitary latrines and manual scavengers. So far, 6,253 complaints have been received, but none of them have been verified as credible instances of manual scavenging.
In terms of preventing deaths caused by hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem scheme was launched last year. While provision was made for allocating projects for 1,110 sanitation workers, some states, such as Haryana, Tripura, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, and Bihar, have not yet submitted any projects. As of now, 641 sanitation workers have been sanctioned capital subsidies for sanitation-related projects.
Compensation of Rs 10 lakh has been given in 931 out of 1,056 cases of deaths due to hazardous cleaning, with the remaining 42 cases still awaiting release of compensation.
In conclusion, as the August deadline looms, 246 districts in India are yet to declare themselves free from manual scavenging. The government is urging states to fulfill their obligations under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Rehabilitation Act, and submit the necessary reports or declarations. The goal remains to declare all districts in the country free from this practice by August 2023.
