941 workers died while cleaning sewers or septic tanks since 1993: Union govt tells Parliament
New Delhi, Aug 4: As many as 941 workers died while cleaning sewers or septic tanks since 1993 while there are no reports of death due to manual scavenging, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar informed Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
A total of 58,098 manual scavengers have been identified across the country, Kumar said.
"There is no report of death due to manual scavenging. However, we have reports regarding deaths of workers while being engaged in cleaning of sewers or septic tanks," he said.
According to the data shared by the minister, 941 workers died while cleaning sewers or septic tanks.
Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of such deaths at 213, followed by 153 in Gujarat, 104 in Uttar Pradesh, 98 in Delhi, 84 in Karnataka and 73 in Haryana, the data showed.
In response to another question, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said 941 deaths have been recorded since 1993.
Manual scavenging is banned under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
Under the Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS), Kumar said one-time cash assistance of Rs 40,000 was deposited directly into the bank accounts of all the identified and eligible 58,098 manual scavengers.
Listing the achievements under the SRMS, he said 16,057 manual scavengers and their dependents have been provided skill development training in various trades and 1,387 manual scavengers, sanitation workers and their dependents have been provided capital subsidy for self-employment projects, including sanitation-related projects.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
