732 districts in India report as manual scavenging-free: Union Minister
New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale on Tuesday said 732 districts out of 766 districts in the country have reported themselves as manual scavenging-free as on July 31, 2024.
This information was provided by Athawale in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.
Further, under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban 2.0), funds amounting to Rs 371 crore has been approved for release to States to be provided to smaller towns to acquire the machines and improve their state of mechanization.
States have reported to have access to 5000 plus standard septic tank vehicles, 1100 plus Hydrovac and 1000 plus desilting machines.
According to the Minister, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) are advised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to incorporate in their bylaws BIS 2470 standards for septic tanks and enforce the same while giving building permissions. Advisories have also been issued to provide safety gears to workers, provide helpline facilities for emergency desludging, and also take up IEC activities.
According to him, as per Sections 2(d) and 2(g) of the ‘Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013’, the definition of hazardous cleaning and manual scavengers is as follows:
‘Hazardous Cleaning” by an employee, in relation to a sewer or septic tank, means its manual cleaning by such employee without the employer fulfilling his obligations to provide protective gear and other cleaning devices and ensuring observance of safety precautions, as may be prescribed or provided in any other law, for the time being in force or rules made thereunder.
‘Manual Scavenger’ means a person engaged or employed by an individual or a local authority or a public or private agency, for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit into which the human excreta from insanitary latrines is disposed of, or on a railway track or in such other spaces or premises, as the Central Government or a State Government may notify, before the excreta fully decomposes in such manner as may be prescribed, and the expression “manual scavenging" shall be construed accordingly.
As on July 31, 2024, out of 766 districts in the country, 732 districts have reported themselves as manual scavenging-free.
