ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT
(SHRI RAMDAS ATHAWALE)
(a) and (b): Manual scavenging is prohibited under Section 5 of the “Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (MS Act 2013)” in all the States and Union Territories with effect from 06.12.2013.
The persons who were engaged in manual scavenging on this date are identified for their rehabilitation. The Act provides for survey of manual scavengers by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Municipality in urban areas and CEO of Gram Panchayat in rural areas if they have reasons to believe existence of manual scavengers in the areas under their jurisdiction. 14,559 manual scavengers have been identified by 13 States from 2013-14 to 31.01.2020. In addition, a National Survey has also been carried out in 194 districts of 18 States identified on the basis of insanitary latrines, converted into sanitary latrines under Swachh Bharat Mission. 48,345 manual scavengers have been identified under the National survey upto 31.01.2020. Thus a total of 62,904 manual scavengers have been identified since 06.12.2013 upto 31.01.2020.
(a) and (d): There has been no reports regarding death of persons due to manual scavenging. However, the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis have received reports regarding the death of persons while cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. State-wise details of such deaths during the last five years are at Annexure.
(e): The main reason for manual scavenging is the existence of insanitary latrines which require manual cleaning. Under Swachh Bharat Mission implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation the insanitary latrines have been identified and converted into sanitary latrines to eliminate the need for manual cleaning of toilets. In addition, the Act also provides stringent penalties of imprisonment upto 2 years or fine upto Rs. 1 lakh or both if any person or agency engages any person for manual scavenging.
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Annexure
Anneuxre referred in reply to parts (c) to (d) of Lok Sabha unstarred question No. 1607 for answer on 11.02.2020 regarding eradication of manual scavenging
S No Name of State/UT 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
No. of Death Compensation No. of Death Compensation No. of Death Compensation No. of Death Compensation No. of Death Compensation
Full Partly Full Partly Full Partly Full Partly Full Partly
1 Andhra Pradesh 3 2 1 2 2 9 7 0 2 0 0
2 Bihar 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 6 6 0 0 0 0 0
3 Chhatisgarh 1 1
4 Chandigarh 3 3
5 Delhi 2 2 1 0 0 13 12 0 10 10 0 8 8 0
6 Goa 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 Gujarat 7 0 6 7 0 1 7 3 0 2 1 1 16 2 11
8 Haryana 4 4 11 11 6 3 2 14 6 0
9 Kerla 1 1
10 Karnataka 14 13 9 9 4 4 1 1 7 7
11 Maharashtra 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 7 2 0 17 0 0
12 Punjab 2 2 4 0 2 2 0 2 3 3
13 Rajasthan 11 2 6 5 2 3 6 4 0 2 0 0 5 0 0
14 Tamil Nadu 8 7 1 10 10 7 7 9 8 0 15 10 0
15 Talengana 1 0 0 2 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
16 Tripura 2 0 2
17 Uttar Pradesh 10 0 8 3 2 0 18 7 5 11 5 4 21 8 10
18 West Bengal 7 7 0 0 0 2 0 0
Total 57 28 21 48 27 11 93 61 13 68 40 9 110 44 21
Note : "0" means information not received
Nil Report Received
S No Name State/UT
1 Arunachal Pradesh
2 Assam
3 Odisha
4 Jharkhand
5 Mizoram
6 Manipur
7 Nagaland
8 Sikkim
9 Dadar and Nagar Haveli
10 Pondicherry
11 Lakshadweep
12 Meghalaya
13 A&N Islands
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