Madras High Court seeks status report on manual scavenging

Madras High Court seeks status report on manual scavenging

State government instructed to eradicate the practice completely

The Madras High Court has sought a status report from the State government on measures taken to completely eradicate manual scavenging.

The court observed, "Something has to be done socially for them. They are born thinking that this is what they will do (for the rest of their lives) and that cannot be. Opportunity for regular life must be available to them."

Appearing for the petitioners, advocate Srinath Sridevan stated that no criminal prosecution, which was the only deterrent, was being pursued against local body heads and requested that the same be considered.

"What they are doing now is initiating criminal proceedings against contractors and disciplinary proceedings against local body heads. The only deterrent is if (in the initial stage itself) the local body heads are also prosecuted. Of course, they may prove they have nothing to do with it and come out after the trial. (But) we request their prosecution too," the advocate reasoned.

A discrepancy was recognized by the petitioners in the number of manual scavengers recognized by the State. It was brought to the court's attention that as per the State government's 2014 report, there were only 462 manual scavengers in the entire State. However, it was contended that the real number was 3,000 plus, Sridevan argued.

"Unless we know who the manual scavengers are, we will never be in a position to actually reach out to them and rehabilitate them. There is a stigma attached to manual scavenging. Unless the government makes necessary efforts, they will not come forward. It is not a matter of pride to say you are a manual scavenger. The government will have to reach out to them, there will have to be some level of outreach," he stressed.

As ordered by the court, the government had filed a status report. But the petitioners raised certain issues. Among the changes sought was an increase in the quantum of compensation payable upon the death of a person undertaking manual scavenging. While the State had capped the amount at Rs.10 lakh based on a Supreme Court order, the petitioners prayed for an increased compensation of Rs.50 lakh.

The High Court observed, "In case of a death, compensation of Rs.10 lakh as agreed to be paid by the State may be too low since it was fixed in 2014 and the cost of living and price indexes have uniformly gone up since."

Earlier, the court had directed municipal authorities and corporations across the State to make sure that no manual scavenging takes place within their jurisdictions and to file written undertakings to this effect. It also reiterated that heads of municipal bodies and commissioners of corporations would be held liable if any manual scavenging activity was found to have taken place in their jurisdiction.