Gujarat High Court wants govt to clarify on manual scavenging

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday sought a reply from the state government by June 25 on whether manual scavenging is still prevalent in the state or not, and what actions have been taken by it to curb the inhuman practice. The reply was sought by the division bench of Justice SR Brahmbhatt and Justice AP Thaker during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a community-based organisation Manav Garima working for the rights of manual scavengers in Gujarat.

Counsel for the petitioner organisation Hirak Ganguly pointed out the recent death of seven persons on June 15 inside a septic tank of a hotel in Dabhoi taluka of Vadodara due to asphyxiation, while cleaning it.

Ganguly pointed out that manual scavenging has been banned in India and the Supreme Court has issued several guidelines for the state government for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers and to put an end to the inhumane practice. However, he submitted, that the state government has not taken any steps to follow the apex court guidelines and the system of manual scavenging still prevails in Gujarat.

The advocate contended that the petitioner has already submitted a list of persons who have died while cleaning drainage and sewerage lines. He said the kin of the deceased are supposed to get a compensation of Rs 10 lakh as per the apex court guidelines, but the government has not done anything in this regard.