As the practice of manual scavenging continues to prevail, TNM examined five municipalities in the five southern states, which reported high instances of manual scavenging. Besides investigating the reasons for this prevalence, TNM also critically looked into the role of district administrations and what measures they have implemented.
Abdul Rahman, an Underground Drainage (UGD) worker, was getting off his jetting machine vehicle near the RS Puram Corporation office in Coimbatore when TNM caught up with him in the last week of August. There were heavy rains a day ago and UGD workers had enough work unclogging the stormwater drains to ease the flooding that affected many parts of the city. “If the drainage is clogged, we use these jetting machines. And mostly it will be solved on the same day. If the clogging is stubborn, we figure out other solutions; there is no question of manually entering into the manhole or anything,” says Abdul. His colleague Muthu Kumar nods in agreement.
Cleaning clogged sewers, which involved physically entering manholes, was once a risky job for workers like him but water jets from the machines procured by the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation now helps them remove blockages and sediments in a jiffy. For the 100 wards in the Coimbatore Corporation, the administration has 12 sewer jetting machines.
Road submerged in rains
After many mishaps resulting in avoidable deaths, the workers are now more aware of the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, thanks to the work done by active trade unions.
Saravana, an UGD worker, and also a leader of the Social Justice Party, a political organisation working for land rights and the welfare of sanitation workers, says: “After the introduction of jetting machines there is no need for any manual intervention. And none of the workers get into the manholes. They are aware of the law.”
Sanitation workers – both permanent staff and on contract – say they do not enter into manholes or drainages anymore. “The UGD (underground drainage) workers do not engage in manual scavenging. We have been penalising contractors if they violate the law. In some cases it is the sub-contractors who have been violating the rules and making the workers do unclogging work without adequate safety. We have been penalising them as well,” says M Prathap, Commissioner, Coimbatore Corporation.
In the Corporation, only the Underground Drainage (UGD) staff are responsible for clearing the drainages. But the Corporation has not made any investments into technology to eradicate the practice of manual scavenging, prohibited by law. For the Union government, state administrators and local bodies it is convenient to spread the narrative that manual scavenging has come to an end, when it hasn’t.
Touted as the ‘Manchester of South India’, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu is one of the fastest growing Tier-II cities in the country, housing a population upwards of a million people. The city’s infrastructure is rapidly developing, thanks to the Smart City project. But in this ‘Smart city’ has the administration been able to completely eliminate the practice of manual scavenging and live up to its name? Only partly, say the sanitation workers. The inhuman act, which is also punishable under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, continues to take place discreetly; and individuals running commercial establishments and apartment complexes are solely to be blamed for this.
Coimbatore has been witnessing large influx of migrants from Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar and other northern states in search of jobs. The desperation of these migrants are being exploited by the people running commercial establishments who employ them, alleges R Tamil Nadu Selvam, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Ambedkar Sanitary Workers’ Association, an organisation working for the welfare of sanitation workers in Coimbatore.
Coimbatore, over the years has grown as a business hub but it seems to have failed in identifying manual scavengers who were part and parcel of its growth, and provide them with rehabilitation.As per the data procured through RTI by TNM, the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation has not identified a single manual scavenger and provided them any assistance. This is shocking considering six persons have died between 2017 and 2019 in the district while doing manual scavenging.
As per the RTI information, these workers died while engaged in manual cleaning of septic tanks. All of them belonged to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Most Backward Class (MBC) were employed by private individuals. The 2022 statistics revealed by the Union government shows that Tamil Nadu had the highest number of worker deaths –27–while cleaning sewers and septic tanks, in the last three years.
A state survey conducted in 2013 to identify manual scavengers found only 462 persons, a number which is quite low, according to activists working in the field. Interestingly, most of these manual scavengers were in Chennai. The other districts where the presence of manual scavengers were identified include: Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Tiruchirapalli, Thanjavur, Nagapattinam, Pudukottai and Ariyalur.
In the subsequent survey carried out in 2018, only 62 persons were identified as manual scavengers. The surveys in 2018 were conducted in the districts of Kancheepuram, Madurai and Kanyakumari. D Samuel Velanganni, Convener, Safai Karamchari Andolan, Tamil Nadu says though the Tamil Nadu government identified 1,600 manual scavengers, they found only 462 persons as eligible for compensation schemes.
“Since 2018, more than 100 persons have died while doing manual scavenging and in each incident of death, at least six people have gone along with the victims of manual scavenging. So easily 600 people have been doing manual scavenging, right? These people came forward to identify themselves as manual scavengers and to seek their entitled benefits, but the government is denying them compensation. This is the attitude of the government,” says Samuel.
As per the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, the identified manual scavenger should be provided with a one-time cash assistance of Rs. 40,000 and a back-end capital subsidy upto Rs. 3.25 lakh. Their dependents should be considered for self employment projects upto Rs. 10 lakh (Rs. 15.00 lakh in case of sanitation related projects). Apart from this manual scavengers and their dependents are eligible for skill development training upto two years with a stipend of Rs. 3,000 per month.
While the family members of the victims in Coimbatore have been awarded the compensation of Rs 10 lakh, they are not eligible for a government job, as they were not employed by the Corporation. “As they were not employed by the Corporation or government, we were not able to give their kin a job on compassionate grounds,” the RTI response by the Corporation’s City Health Officer said.
The persons who died while doing manual scavenging in Coimbatore in the past five years are: P Surya Kumar, Gowrisankar, Elumalai, Mahendran, Murugan, and Pandi Durai. Surya Kumar, Gowrisankar and Elumalai died on December 22, 2017, when they were cleaning a waste collection tank of a jewellery manufacturing unit. Similarly, Pandi Durai and Murugan had died on the same day on January 22, 2019, when they were unclogging a septic tank in Thiru Nagar Housing Unit, Singanallur. Mahendran died on June 28, 2018 while cleaning a septic tank in Gandhipuram.
However, none of the accused who were responsible for the deaths were prosecuted under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, according to Social Justice Party president, advocate N Panneer Selvam. It was only after the intervention of Panneer Selvam a few families got their compensation.
Manual scavenging has been prohibited by the Indian government since 1993. However, as the practice continued brazenly, it was made a punishable offence in 2013. As per the Act, anyone employing a person for manual scavenging work, whether directly or indirectly, can be jailed for upto a year, or made to pay a fine of Rs 50,000, or both. For repeat offences, imprisonment could go upto two years or a fine, which may extend to Rs 1 lakh, or both. Similarly, no person or agency shall employ, directly or indirectly, any person for hazardous cleaning of a sewer or a septic tank, the Act states.
The National Crime Records Bureau also makes it difficult to identify the number of cases registered under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, especially after it stopped displaying the number of cases registered under the Act separately in its main report. From 2017, NCRB instead of publishing the data under a separate head and column, merged them with cases under the existing ‘Other Special and Local Laws (SLLs)’.
Though the Corporation has been greatly avoiding the death of its workers – by employing jetting machines – the workers often come in contact with drainage water as they refuse to wear gloves. They complain that the gloves are substandard and work only for single-use. “The gloves are supplied for every month, but it would not last two days. So, to get a better grip while unclogging drains we rather use our bare hands,” says a UGD worker requesting anonymity. This view is echoed by many workers. Some of these incidents have been documented.
Recently, the Tamil Nadu State government issued a list of 44 items of safety equipment for persons engaged in cleaning septic tanks. This includes face masks, air compressor for blowers, air line breathing apparatus among others.
“The Act clearly says that adequate safety should be provided by the authorities but if the employees are reluctant to wear them, the authorities should find out the reason behind it and address them,” observes Panneer Selvam of Social Justice Party.
Safety kit issued by the government
Open defecation becomes another hurdle in eliminating manual scavenging. While restrooms near the city are open 24/7, most of them are shut down by 9.30 pm. And this results in defecation in public places.
“Who is going to clean them? The sanitation workers. Isn't that a form of manual scavenging?” asks R Tamil Nadu Selvam, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Ambedkar Sanitary Workers’ Association. While it is assumed that only Dalit communities engage in manual scavenging, among the six victims, three – Surya Kumar, Pandi Durai and Gowrisankar– belonged to Vanniyar community, which is classified as Most Backward Castes (MBC) in the state.
This research was supported by a grant from the Thakur Family Foundation. The Foundation has not exercised any editorial control over the contents of this report.