This article is from Feb 11, 2021

Tamil Nadu in competition with UP in the death rate of manual scavengers!

The tragedy of manual scavengers in India continues till today. There has been only a little talk while there is a casualty in this work. In a large population country like India, surveys are being conducted on those involved in manual scavenging.

In a written reply from the Rajya Sabha in February 2021, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said, “In the last 5 years, 340 people have lost their lives while cleaning sewers and sewages in India and out of 340 deaths 217 of them have been fully compensated and 47 have been partially compensated.”

According to a study released in India, 66,692 people are involved in human waste disposal. The highest number of 37,379 were identified in Uttar Pradesh, 7,378 in Maharashtra, 6,170 in Uttarakhand and 4,295 in Assam, according to The Hindu.

In the last 5 years, 340 people have lost their lives while engaged in human waste disposal work. Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 52 deaths. It is followed by Tamil Nadu with 43 deaths.

About 75 per cent of worker deaths occur in Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana and Karnataka.

Surveys are being conducted across the country to identify workers involved in human waste disposal. Of these, workers in rural and urban areas are surveyed separately. Workers involved in this work are being advised to come forward and register themselves.

The National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC), which operates under the Central Ministry of Social Justice, is implementing the Swachhta Udami Yojana, a scheme to provide loans to workers involved in human waste disposal. The Union Ministry has replied that 50% subsidy will be given for mechanized equipment up to Rs. 5 lakhs for the manual scavenger.

In a densely populated country like India, the number of workers left in the human waste disposal process is likely to be unaccounted. The task here is to increase the use of machines instead of humans for the task of disposing of human waste.

Links :

over-66000-manual-scavengers-identified-across-country

43 manual scavengers died in TN in last 5 years: Min

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment Survey of Manual Scavengers in Statutory Towns

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