However, this number is probably still lesser than expected, given that several factors weren't taken into consideration
In 2018, India has recorded 53,236 manual scavengers, which is a four-fold rise from the 13,000-odd such workers counted in 2017, the Indian Express reported.
However, the data, the report added, was a gross underestimate as only 121 out of more than 600 districts were surveyed. Furthermore, it does not involve people cleaning sewers and septic tanks, as well as data from the Railways, which is the largest employer of manual scavengers.
“Of the 53,000 identified so far through the national survey, only a total of 6,650 have been confirmed officially by states in keeping with the tendency to under-report the prevalence of this practice,” the report added.
Last November, the Centre announced that a survey on manual scavengers would be conducted by the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry with the idea to counter the severe under-reporting of the number of these labourers.
As per the Socio Economic and Caste Census, 2011, there were 182,505 manual scavengers in India. After the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, the definition of manual scavengers was extended to include sanitation workers.
Till December 2015, only 12,226 manual scavengers were registered with the government. As per the 2011 Census, in over 182,505 households, human excreta is removed by hand, which has been outlawed under the MS Act.
Recently, the government made it mandatory for private companies and contractors to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family of any manual scavenger who loses his or her life during the job, over and above the Rs 10 lakh compensation paid by the government.
Recently, the Delhi High Court has directed the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (DSIIDC) to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation each to the families of two manual scavengers who died while cleaning a sewer in Bawana Industrial Area.
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