Chennai: Two sexagenarian workers, hired by Southern Railway contractors, were engaged in manual scavenging outside Egmore railway station on Tuesday, while railway officials claimed they were not aware of it.
Devaiyya, 65, and Sundaram, 60, were cleaning a manhole outside the railway station. Two more workers Srinivas and Laban who were present, claimed they were made to enter manholes whenever sewerage was blocked
“Please do something to help us,” pleaded Sundaram, covered in muck, inside the manhole. This is another incident that openly flouted Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013, which put a ban on the practice.
Their supervisor, Kamarajar, said railways had given the work to the contractor, Sudarshan, who hired these workers to clean sewage lines.
When asked why the men were made to work as manual scavengers despite a ban, Sudarshan said “Even I was unaware and they have been strictly told not to repeat it again.”
What was more surprising is that Sudarshan claimed to have rented around five suction machines for cleaning blocked sewer lines, but it being an emergency today, the men entered the manhole to clean the sewage.
“This incident has not been brought to my notice. Most of our cleaning work is now mechanised. I will have to check the conditions stated in the contract with the contractor. Action will be taken depending on that,” said Vashistha Johri, General Manager, Southern Railway.
“The railway officials and the contractor should be booked in this case. It is a non-bailable offence which calls for 2 years RI and a fine,” said A Narayanan, of Change India
Following a PIL by an activist, Madras high court in 2015, directed the state government to ensure that manual scavenging is totally prohibited in the state, and to identify all manual scavengers.
“The law is not being implemented properly across the country. No one feels a sense of responsibility towards the welfare of these workers. Sometimes, even the workers themselves are not aware that it is a banned practice,” said Lata Mahto, a member of National Commission for Safai Karamcharis.
