The Prohibition of Work as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act 2013 prohibits the employment of manual scavengers, and the Supreme Court has ordered the Union of India to document the measures it has taken to do so.
The Court has further mandated the Center to inform about steps taken towards the abolition of dry latrines, the status of dry latrines and safai karmachari in cantonment zone and railways, employment of safai karmachari in railways and cantonment zone, statewide set-up of Municipal Corporation, real-time tracking of sewage death with the help of internet etc.
These instructions were given during a PIL hearing that was attended by Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta. The PIL was submitted by Dr. Balram Singh.
In the Safai Karamchari Andolan decision, the Court laid out a plethora of recommendations for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers, including casha assistance, scholarships for their kids, the distribution of residential lots, training in livelihood skills and monthly stipends, preferential loans, etc. The judgment also ordered the Railways to stop manual track scavenging and set a minimum amount of compensation in situations of sewage deaths.
Within six weeks, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment must provide an affidavit including details on these matters. The subject will be discussed again on April 12, 2023. The National Commission for Scheduled Castes, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, and the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis has also been named as respondents by the court.
Case Title: Dr. Balram Singh v. Union of India
Writ Petition (C.) No.: 324/2020
Written By – Srijan Raj
