Sewer workers continue to work under dangerous and dehumanising conditions

[Occupational Safety and Health - Related News]

According to data from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK), as many as 50 sewer workers, a subset of manual scavengers who almost exclusively belong to the Scheduled Caste, have died between January and June 2019. Being based on reports submitted by only eight states and UTs, this number is a gross underestimation. Further, based on data reported by 20 states and UTs, 814 deaths related to manual scavenging have occurred since 1993 when the central government outlawed the practice nation-wide by enacting The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. The Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011 found that 1,80,657 Indian households are involved in manual scavenging, despite legal sanctions against it.