Why in news?
Four workers died cleaning a hotel’s food-waste chamber in Ujjain, showing sewer deaths continue despite laws and court orders.
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: PEMSR Act 2013, constitutional provisions (Articles 17, 21, 23), NCSK, NAMASTE scheme, Supreme Court judgments.
Mains GS1: Caste system and social issues; role of women.
Mains GS2: Welfare of vulnerable sections; laws, institutions and bodies for their protection; Fundamental Rights; role of judiciary.
The Scale of the Problem
| Period | Deaths in sewer and septic tank cleaning (Parliament / NCSK data) |
|---|---|
| 1993 to 2025 | 1,350 |
| 2014 to 2025 | 859 |
| 2019 to mid-2026 | 498 |
- The numbers have never come close to zero, and the Safai Karamchari Andolan has repeatedly alleged serious under-reporting.
- The government has maintained since 2021 that manual cleaning of insanitary latrines has been eliminated, but deaths in sewers and septic tanks continue.
What is Manual Scavenging?
- Meaning: Manually cleaning, carrying, disposing or handling human excreta from insanitary latrines, open drains, pits or railway tracks before it has fully decomposed.
- Legal definition: Section 2(1)(g) of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act, 2013. A person using notified protective gear and devices is not counted as a manual scavenger.
- Hazardous cleaning: The 2013 Act separately defines manual cleaning of a sewer or septic tank without protective gear and equipment as ‘hazardous cleaning’ [Section 2(1)(d)]. This is where most deaths now take place.
- Forms today:
- Cleaning dry and insanitary latrines (mostly done by women).
- Entering sewers, manholes and septic tanks.
- Cleaning railway tracks and open drains.
- Caste link: It is not just an occupation but a caste-imposed practice. About 97% of manual scavengers identified in government surveys belong to Scheduled Castes, mostly from Valmiki and similar communities.
- Gender dimension: Women form the majority of those cleaning dry latrines, and face double discrimination of caste and gender.
Constitutional Status
| Provision | Relevance to manual scavenging |
|---|---|
| Article 14 | Equality before law; the practice treats a group as lesser humans |
| Article 15 | No discrimination on grounds of caste |
| Article 17 | Abolishes untouchability; manual scavenging is its worst surviving form |
| Article 19(1)(g) | Freedom to choose an occupation, denied by caste-based work |
| Article 21 | Right to life with dignity, right to health and safe working conditions |
| Article 23 | Prohibits forced labour and begar |
| Article 42 | Just and humane conditions of work (DPSP) |
| Article 46 | Protect SCs and STs from social injustice and exploitation (DPSP) |
| Article 47 | Duty of State to improve public health (DPSP) |
| State List, Entries 5 and 6 | Local government and public health and sanitation are State subjects, so municipalities are key |
Legal Framework
1. Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993
- Banned employment of manual scavengers for dry latrines and construction of new dry latrines.
- Limitations: Did not cover sewers and septic tanks; weak enforcement and almost no convictions.
2. PEMSR Act, 2013
- Prohibition: No person, local authority or agency can engage anyone as a manual scavenger or for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
- Insanitary latrines: Must be demolished or converted into sanitary latrines.
- Punishment:
- Employing a manual scavenger: up to 1 year and/or fine up to ₹50,000 (first offence); higher for repeat offence.
- Hazardous cleaning of sewer/septic tank: up to 2 years and/or fine up to ₹2 lakh (first offence); up to 5 years and/or ₹5 lakh for repeat offence.
- Offences are cognizable and non-bailable.
- Rehabilitation: Survey to identify manual scavengers, one-time cash assistance, scholarships for children, residential plot and house, skill training and loans for alternative livelihood.
- Monitoring: Vigilance Committees (district), State and Central Monitoring Committees; NCSK monitors implementation.
3. Other laws
- Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955: Compelling a person to do scavenging on grounds of untouchability is an offence.
- SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (amended in 2015): Making an SC/ST member do manual scavenging, or employing them for it, is an atrocity.
4. Institutions and schemes
- National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK): Set up in 1994 as a statutory body; became non-statutory after its Act lapsed in 2004. Its tenure is extended periodically, recently up to March 2028.
- NAMASTE scheme (2022-23): National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem, run by the Ministry of Social Justice with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. Aims at zero deaths through profiling of sewer workers, PPE kits, health cover under AB-PMJAY, capital subsidy for sanitation machines, and Emergency Response Sanitation Units in ULBs. It replaced the earlier Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS).
- Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge (2020): Launched by MoHUA to encourage cities to mechanise sewer and septic tank cleaning.
Judicial Pronouncements
| Case / Order | Key points |
|---|---|
| Delhi Jal Board v. National Campaign for Dignity and Rights of Sewerage and Allied Workers (2011) | State and its agencies are responsible for safety of sewer workers, even if hired through contractors; right to life under Article 21 applies |
| Safai Karamchari Andolan v. Union of India (2014) | Directed full implementation of the 2013 Act; ₹10 lakh compensation to families of sewer deaths since 1993; entering sewers without safety gear to be a crime even in emergencies; railways to end manual scavenging |
| SC observation (2019) | The Court remarked that no country sends its people to gas chambers to die, criticising continued sewer deaths |
| SC order (2025) | Ordered an end to manual sewer and septic tank cleaning in six major cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad – and sought compliance reports |
| SC notices (2026) | Notices to 15 Chief Secretaries for not following the 2023 judgment, including on payment of compensation |
Challenges in Ending Manual Scavenging
- Denial and under-reporting: Districts declare themselves ‘manual scavenging free’, and the official focus on latrines hides sewer and septic tank deaths.
- Contractor chain: Municipal bodies and private firms outsource work to contractors who hire undocumented workers, so liability is avoided.
- Weak enforcement: Very few FIRs lead to convictions; vigilance committees rarely meet; compensation is delayed or unpaid.
- Lack of mechanisation: Small towns lack sewer-cleaning machines and trained staff. Narrow lanes and old sewer design make machine access hard.
- Dependence on septic tanks: A large share of households, especially in smaller towns, rely on septic tanks and pits that need regular emptying.
- Caste and social stigma: Rehabilitated workers find it hard to get other jobs or business customers, so many return to the same work.
- Rehabilitation through loans: Self-employment loans do not suit people with little education and capital; one-time cash help is not a real livelihood.
- Wrong policy focus: Schemes stress distributing safety kits and assistance, rather than removing the situations where a person has to enter a sewer at all.
- Private establishments: Hotels, housing societies and malls hire workers privately and are rarely inspected, as in the Ujjain case.
- Data gaps: Surveys depend on self-identification; many workers are not counted out of fear or stigma.
Way Forward
- Zero human entry: Make machine cleaning the only legal option; redesign sewers and manholes for machine access; use robots like ‘Bandicoot’, first used in Kerala.
- Fix accountability: Make municipal commissioners and principal employers liable for deaths, even when work is outsourced.
- Formalise sanitation work: Written contracts, minimum wages, insurance, health check-ups and pensions for all sanitation workers, including contract workers.
- Enforce the law: Time-bound FIRs, fast-track trials, active vigilance committees and regular inspection of private establishments.
- Pay compensation promptly: Implement the ₹30 lakh award in Balram Singh within fixed timelines, with direct monitoring by courts and NCSK.
- Real rehabilitation: Skill training linked to jobs, preference in public employment, housing and education for children, not just loans.
- Empower workers: Train and organise sanitation workers into cooperatives that own and run cleaning machines (Sanitation Entrepreneurs under NAMASTE).
- Fight stigma: Social awareness against caste-based occupations, and involve communities and civil society like the Safai Karamchari Andolan.
- Better data: An independent national survey covering sewer, septic tank, railway and private sector workers.
Laws and judgments alone have not stopped these deaths. The goal must be simple: no human being should ever have to enter a sewer.
Practice MCQ
Q1. With reference to the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, consider the following statements:
1. It prohibits hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks along with manual scavenging.
2. Offences under the Act are cognizable and non-bailable.
3. The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, which monitors its implementation, is a constitutional body.
How many of the above statements are correct?
(a) Only one (b) Only two (c) All three (d) None
Answer: (b)
Explanation: Statement 3 is incorrect. NCSK was set up as a statutory body in 1994 and has functioned as a non-statutory body since its Act lapsed in 2004. It is not a constitutional body.
Mains Practice Question
“Despite a strong legal framework and repeated judicial directions, manual scavenging and sewer deaths persist in India.” Discuss the constitutional and legal safeguards against the practice, examine the reasons for their poor implementation and suggest a way forward. (15 Marks, 250 words)
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