Sewer death: Swachch Bharat mission as 'hollow'; PM blind to manual scavengers' plight: Rahul Gandhi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachch Bharat mission, terming the mission as 'hollow'.

Citing the case of a child hugging the body of a manual scavenger who died in the sewers of Delhi, Gandhi tweeted, "Anil’s tragic death in the sewers of Delhi & photographs of his grieving son have made headlines worldwide. Our PM’s “Swacch Bharat” is a hollow slogan, when he’s blind to the plight of thousands of manual scavengers forced to excavate toilets & sewer lines in inhuman conditions."

Anil’s tragic death in the sewers of Delhi & photographs of his grieving son have made headlines worldwide. Our PM’s “Swacch Bharat” is a hollow slogan, when he’s blind to the plight of thousands of manual scavengers forced to excavate toilets & sewer lines in inhuman conditions. https://t.co/wwaaNKzGc2

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 19, 2018

Earlier, the photo of his son standing over his body and crying because the family had no money to even cremate the deceased had been doing rounds on the internet since then and it's when the online world decided to step up and help. 

The crowd-funding page on ketto.org, appealed the users to donate and within just few days, people have donated around Rs 32 lakh, which is way more than the goal fund. 

According to some media reports, Anil had promised a bicycle to gift a bicycle to his son and to fulfil his demand, the organisation has sent bicycle and many gifts to the kids so bring back their lost smile. 

Anil, 37, while climbing down the sewer, slipped and the rope around his waist broke, following which he fell in the 20-feet deep sewer. 

He is survived by his wife Rani and three children – aged 11 years, 7 years and 3 years. 

As the reports emerged that the family of the worker could not even afford to cremate him, Twitter users launched a crowdfunding campaign to help his wife and three children. 

Police said Anil was hired by a person named Satbir Kala to clean the sewer line as water was stagnant in his building.