Manual Scavenging and Government initiatives

What is manual scavenging?

Manual scavenging is manual removal of excreta (night soil) from dry toilets, i.e.,
toilets without the modern flush system.
Is this existed in Indus valley civilisation?
No, because these cities had toilets, which were connected to underground drainage
system lined with burnt clay bricks.
How this manual scavenging came into existence? Who introduced?
Manual scavenging is said to have started in 1214 in Europe when the first public
toilets appeared.
Evolution of Flush type toilet:
The water closet was invented by John Harrington in 1596.
In 1870, S.S. Helior invented the flush type toilet, and it became common in the
Western world.
How manual scavenging entered into india? Who is that culprit?
This credit goes to Mughal ruler Jehangir, who built a public toilet at Alwar.
First innocent caste involved in manual scavenging and about them?
Bhangi is an Indian (innocent) caste.
They were historically restricted to three occupations: cleaning latrines, sweeping, and
scavenging (which sometimes involves handling dead bodies).
Legal Framework:
Sanitation is a State subject.
But by using Article 252 of the constitution which empowers Parliament to legislate
for two or more States by consent and adoption of such legislation by any other State.
After six states (Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tripura, West
Bengal) passed resolutions requesting the Central Government to frame a law, The
Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines
(Prohibition) Act, 1993, drafted by the Ministry of Urban Development under the
Narasimha Rao government, was passed by Parliament in 1993.
Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act,
1993:
The Act provides for a penalty of imprisonment up to 1 year with or without fine which
may extend to Rs. 2000/- or both in case of failure or contravention of the Act. Further, in
case of repeated contraventions, fine to the extent of Rs. 100/- per day for the entire
period of contravention is also provided.
Is this law prohibited the employment of manual scavengers?
No, this law was weak in letter and poorly implemented.
Governments themselves flouted the law with impunity by operating public dry
latrines and employing manual scavengers to clean these.
They falsely reported full abolition of manual scavenging and almost no one has
been punished in 20 years of the law.
How this humiliating practice has declined (only declined not eradicated)?
Organisations of manual scavengers themselves have bravely battled the practice, publicly
burning baskets that they deployed to carry human excreta on their heads, and demolishing
dry latrines.
One of the demands of organisations of manual scavengers was for a more stringent law, in
which ending this practice was acknowledged to be a matter of human dignity and not merely
of sanitation.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Bill,
2012:
Introducing the Bill in Parliament, Minister Kumari Selja described the practice as
dehumanising, inconsistent with the right to live with dignity and a stigma and blot
on society.
She also admitted that all State governments were in a denial mode about the persistence of
this social evil.
Highlights of the Bill:
Prohibits:
o the employment of manual scavengers,
o the manual cleaning of sewers,
o septic tanks without protective equipment, and
o the construction of insanitary latrines.
It seeks to rehabilitate manual scavengers and provide for their alternative
employment.
Each local authority, cantonment board and railway authority is responsible for
surveying insanitary latrines within its jurisdiction. They shall also construct a
number of sanitary community latrines.
Each occupier of insanitary latrines shall be responsible for converting or demolishing
the latrine at his own cost. If he fails to do so, the local authority shall convert the
latrine and recover the cost from him.
The District Magistrate and the local authority shall be the implementing authorities.
Offences under the Bill shall be cognizable and non-bailable, and may be tried
summarily.
Key Issues and Analysis
The existing law prohibiting manual scavenging was enacted under the State List.
There could be an argument for Parliaments jurisdiction to enact this Bill as this
regulates conditions of work, and is thus a Concurrent List item.
Neither the state nor the centre is mandated under the Bill to provide financial
assistance for the conversion of insanitary latrines. This may adversely impact
implementation of the Bill.
Offences under the Bill may be tried summarily though the penalty could be five
years imprisonment. However, under the CrPC, only offences with a maximum
imprisonment of two years can be tried summarily.
A state government can grant the Executive Magistrate the judicial power to try
offences under the Bill. This may create a conflict of interest if the Executive
Magistrate is also the implementing authority.
The Bill has a wider scope and higher penalties than the 1993 Act.
Strength:
The strength of the new law is that it is a central law, binding on all States, and not a State
law requiring endorsement by State legislatures, which sadly took 18 years for the 1993 law.
Still something missed in this act. What are they?
This new law allows governments to continue these old practices as long as they introduce
protective gear.
Analysis of this bill:
The new law requires every local authority to carry out a survey of unsanitary latrines
and manual scavengers within its jurisdiction.
The experience with the 1993 law has been that State governments have greatly
under-reported the prevalence of manual scavenging, and mostly continue to be in
denial.
Having declared that manual scavenging has been eradicated, officers reject
community findings that these latrines and manual scavengers exist, even when
confronted with strong evidence.
If government and community activists conduct separate surveys, it is most unlikely
that they will agree on most of the findings, and the time-bound eradication of the
practice will be impossible.
Therefore the rules should mandate a joint survey of dry unsanitary latrines and
manual scavengers by designated teams of both officials and community members.
There should also be provision for self-declaration by manual scavengers.
The new law provides that the employer shall retain full-time scavengers on the same
salary and assign them to different work.
It does not extend this protection to the large proportion of manual scavengers
including those employed for sewers and the Railways who are contract and casual
workers.
The rules should clearly lay down that no person who is employed in casual, contract
or regular employment in any of these tasks will be terminated, and instead will be
redeployed in non-manual scavenging related tasks.
Finally,
Community people were demanding for socio-economic, political and educational
rehabilitation for their comprehensive rehabilitation and holistic empowerment which
they feel is entirely missing from the law.
Besides, the rehabilitation package and estimated budget is not clearly spelt out.
They have waited far too long for the fulfilment of the promises of Indias Constitution, of
equal citizenship. They should wait no longer.
Other Initiatives by GoI:
Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) or Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (NBA):
It is a Community-led total sanitation program initiated by Government of India in
1999.
The main goal of Total Sanitation Campaign is to eradicate the practice of open
defecation by 2017.
Community-led total sanitation is not focused on building infrastructure, but on
preventing open defecation through peer pressure and shame.
In Maharashtra where the program started more than 2000 Gram Panchayats have
achieved "open defecation free" status.
Villages that achieve this status receive monetary rewards and high publicity under a
program called Nirmal Gram Puraskar.
The campaigning ambassador for Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan is Vidya Balan.
.


Pre-matric Scholarships for the Children of those Engaged in Unclean Occupations:
The objective of this scheme is to provide financial assistance to enable the children
of scavengers of dry latrines, tanners, flayers and sweepers who have traditional links
with scavenging to pursue pre-matric education.
Under the scheme, the States / UTs are now provided 100% Central assistance over
and above their respective committee liabilities to implement this scheme.
The scheme covers over 6 lakh students every year.
Integrated Low Cost Sanitation Scheme (ILCS):
The main objectives of the scheme are to convert the existing dry latrines into low
cost pour flush latrines and to construct new ones where none exist.
The scheme has been continued in the 12
th
plan period with the intention of
converting the remaining latrines serviced by humans identified by the census of india
2011 in urban areas.
by Manikandan A
References:
1. http://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/prohibition-of-employment-as-manual-scavengers-and-
their-rehabilitation-bill-2012-2449/
2. http://www.nhrc.nic.in/Documents/Publications/KYR%20Scavenging%20English.pdf
3. http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/Integrated%20Low%20Cost%20Sanitati
on.pdf
4. http://socialjustice.nic.in/prematscd.php
5. Hindu and other magazines