CPIM MP John Brittas questions govt claim on ending manual scavenging, cites 315 sewer deaths
New Delhi: CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas criticised the Union government’s claim of having eradicated manual scavenging. He pointed to data tabled in Parliament showing that 315 people died while cleaning sewers and manholes over the past five years.
“These are not accidents, these are preventable, repeated, institutional failures,” the Kerala MP wrote on social media platform X on Monday.
In an unstarred question, Brittas requested thorough information on deaths and injuries related to sewage and septic tank cleaning in the last five years. He also wanted a state-by-state and caste-by-caste breakdown (SC/OBC), as well as details on compensation paid and safety measures implemented.
According to Maktoob, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale stated in Parliament that sanitation labor is occupation-based rather than caste-based, and that caste-specific statistics on sewer deaths is not maintained. He stated that compensation had been paid to the legal heirs or dependents of people who perished during hazardous cleaning procedures.
Alleging that the absence of caste data reflected a reluctance to acknowledge structural realities, Brittas wrote “Manual scavenging and hazardous sanitation work in India are overwhelmingly carried out by marginalised communities and are rooted in historical caste-based occupation discrimination patterns." He also accused the government of avoiding documentation that would “expose the truth.”
Manual scavenging was first outlawed in 1993. A more comprehensive legal framework was introduced through the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. These acts prohibited the employment of manual scavengers, banned insanitary latrines and mandated rehabilitation of affected workers.
Advocacy groups such as Safai Karmachari Andolan have continued to document cases of hazardous sanitation work across the country. Brittas said seven states accounted for 77.5 per cent of the reported deaths, with Maharashtra recording 53 fatalities since 2021.
To ensure safety and dignity for sewer and septic tank workers, the government had informed Parliament that it launched the National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) in 2023-24. The scheme includes distribution of personal protective equipment, occupational safety training, deployment of safety devices through Emergency Response Sanitation Units in urban local bodies, and financial assistance for mechanised sanitation equipment.
Last year, the government had stated in Parliament that no deaths were reported due to manual scavenging in the preceding two years, while it acknowledged fatalities linked to hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks and non-compliance with safety norms under the 2013 Act.
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Will continue to keep tab on development work in Bihar: Nitish to JD(U) MLAs
Patna (PTI): JD(U) president Nitish Kumar on Monday told party legislators that he will continue to keep a tab on the development work in Bihar despite having given up the chief minister's post a week ago.
Kumar addressed a meeting of the legislative party at 1, Anney Marg, which is the official residence of the chief minister and which the JD(U) supremo, now a Rajya Sabha MP, had occupied for nearly two decades.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, JD(U) MLC and spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said, "Our party leader has said that except for sessions of Parliament, which would require his presence in Delhi, he will spend his maximum time in Bihar."
"Nitish Kumar told us that he will ensure that the good work done while he was in power continues under the new government, in which the JD(U) is an important partner. To keep a tab, he will tour the state in due course," Neeraj Kumar said.
The JD(U) spokesperson was asked about speculations that the meeting had been convened to decide on the role to be assigned to Nishant, the party supremo's son, who joined the JD(U) last month, but has declined to accept a ministerial berth in the Samrat Choudhary government.
"There is no confusion about the role of Nishant, who has been accepted by the party as the leader of the future. In any case, there was no discussion on him today," Neeraj Kumar said.
Nitish Kumar has been authorised by the legislators to decide on choosing the legislative party leader, he added.
Among those present at the meeting were Union minister and former JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' and Deputy Chief Ministers Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav.
Interestingly, don turned politician Anant Kumar Singh, who represents Mokama assembly seat, claimed after the meeting that MLAs were asked by the supreme leader to try and win "200 seats in the next elections".
"Nitish Kumar ji told us that he will now be more easily available for party workers and general public. He also said that he will extensively tour the state and asked us to work hard so that the party wins 200 seats in the next elections", said Singh, who is often in news for putting his foot in the mouth.
The Bihar assembly is 243-strong and the JD(U)'s current tally is 85, four less than ally BJP, which is the single largest party.
The JD(U)'s best-ever performance was in 2010, when it had contested 142 seats and won 115 of these. It was also the highest tally for any single party since Bihar's truncation in 2000, until when Jharkhand was part of the state and assembly had 324 seats.
