Kerala is free of manual scavenging: survey

The survey to determine the existence of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers was undertaken in compliance with a Supreme Court order in October last year

Kerala has reaffirmed its claim of being a manual scavenging-free State after the end of a recent digital survey.

No persons engaged in manual scavenging could be identified during the survey conducted across the State. The survey to determine the existence of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers was undertaken in compliance with a Supreme Court order in October last year. The National Safai Karmachari Finance and Development Corporation was the implementing agency for the programme.

The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 has banned the practice of engaging manual scavengers. The Act defines a manual scavenger as a person engaged or employed for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or handling human excreta in an insanitary latrine, open drain, railway track or pit. An insanitary latrine is one which requires human excreta to be cleaned or otherwise handled manually, according to the Act.

Section 5 of the Act prohibits the construction of an insanitary latrine and the engagement or employment of a manual scavenger. The Act further stipulated that every insanitary latrine that existed on the date of commencement of the Act shall either be demolished or converted into a sanitary latrine by the occupier at his own expense. Any violation of the Act would invite a jail term of up to one year or a fine of up to ₹50,000 or both. Repeated violations will see an enhanced jail term of two years or with a fine of up to ₹One lakh or with both, according to the provisions of the Act.

The survey reconfirmed the earlier assessment that there was no manual scavenging in the State, said Muhammed Huwaiz, State nodal officer, National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem.

The local bodies in the State were put in charge of the survey. Wide publicity was given to identify the persons engaged in the banned practice. The identification of manual scavengers has to be correlated with an insanitary toilet, where the worker has been engaged. No such case has been identified in the State, said Mr. Huwaiz.

Published - October 28, 2024 06:22 am IST