The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJ&E) is set to conduct a comprehensive survey across the country to count the number of sanitation workers involved in the cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
National Action Plan for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) Scheme
This enumeration endeavor is a component of the NAMASTE Scheme which will replace the Self-Employment Scheme for the Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS), initiated in 2007. Launching in 500 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) cities, Programme Monitoring Units (PMUs) will execute it. After covering these cities, the program will extend nationwide.
About the NAMASTE Scheme
Jointly run by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and the MoSJ&E and inaugurated in July 2022, the NAMASTE scheme’s primary goal is to eliminate unsafe sewer and septic tank cleaning practices. Its objectives include eliminating fatalities in sanitation work, ensuring all sanitation work is completed by skilled workers, and preventing sanitation workers from direct contact with human fecal matter.
Why Is This Enumeration Exercise Important?
The initiative will streamline the process of rehabilitating sanitation workers and help them access government benefits such as upskilling, loan, and capital subsidies more easily. It also aims to connect sanitation workers with the Swaachha Udyami Yojana, enabling them to own sanitation machines.
Understanding Manual Scavenging
Manual scavenging involves the removal of human waste from public streets, dry latrines, cleaning septic tanks, gutters, and sewers. Despite being outlawed under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR), it continues to persist as a dehumanizing practice due to societal indifference, outsourcing issues, and entrenched social disparities.
Addressing the Persistence of Manual Scavenging
The persistence of manual scavenging, despite its ban in 1993 (The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993), highlights the lack of law enforcement and exploitation of unskilled labor, coupled with the stigma and discrimination associated with it.
Steps Taken to Tackle Manual Scavenging
Various efforts have been made to tackle this issue, including the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the Building and Maintenance of Insanitary Latrines Act of 2013, and the Safaimitra Suraksha Challenge launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in 2020. The Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 has also served as a safeguard for sanitation workers, who primarily belong to the Scheduled Caste.
Way Forward
With the Swachh Bharat Mission identified as a top priority area by the 15th Finance Commission and funds available for urban development, addressing the problem of manual scavenging is possible. However, understanding and acknowledging the caste system’s role in perpetuating manual scavenging is essential to effectively eradicate this practice.
While various initiatives are being undertaken to address the issue of manual scavenging, societal acknowledgment of the problem and a more aggressive approach towards its eradication are imperative for lasting change.
