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The Union Government informed the Rajya Sabha that a fresh nationwide survey found no manual scavengers.
The survey was conducted under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.
The Act defines a manual scavenger narrowly, as a person engaged in manually cleaning, carrying or disposing of human excreta from insanitary latrines.
That definition is distinct from hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, which continues to cause deaths.
The finding has been contested by activists who point to continuing deaths during sewer and septic tank cleaning.
The 2013 Act defines a manual scavenger as a person engaged to manually clean, carry, dispose of or otherwise handle human excreta from an insanitary latrine, an open drain or a pit before it has fully decomposed. That definition is anchored to the insanitary latrine. As dry latrines have been converted or demolished, the number of people meeting this specific definition falls towards zero. But the Act separately addresses hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, which is a different activity, and deaths continue to occur in that work. A survey reporting no manual scavengers is therefore a statement about one legally defined category, not a statement that no one is doing dangerous sanitation work by hand.
Simple Analogy: It is like reporting no horse-drawn carriages on the roads. Technically accurate, and entirely silent on how much traffic there is.
Prohibits the employment of manual scavengers, the construction of insanitary latrines, and hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, and provides for rehabilitation.
The earlier statute replaced by the 2013 Act, which was narrower in scope.
Abolishes untouchability, the constitutional principle underlying the prohibition of a caste-linked occupation.
The right to life, invoked in litigation over deaths during sewer and septic tank cleaning.
The Supreme Court directed compensation for deaths in sewers and manholes and required identification and rehabilitation of manual scavengers.
GS Paper 1 > Social Empowerment; GS Paper 2 > Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections, Mechanisms and Laws for Protection
General Awareness > Polity and Social Issues
'Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan' is a national campaign to
Answer: eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and rehabilitate the manual scavengers
One of the implications of equality in society is the absence of
Answer: Privileges
Which part of the Constitution of India declares the ideal of Welfare State?
Answer: Directive Principles of State Policy
Under the Indian Constitution, concentration of wealth violates
Answer: the Directive Principles of State Policy
Manually cleaning, carrying or disposing of human excreta from an insanitary latrine, open drain or pit, as defined under the 2013 Act.
Cleaning a sewer or septic tank without prescribed protective gear and safety precautions, treated separately under the same Act.
A latrine requiring human excreta to be handled manually before it fully decomposes.
The constitutional provision abolishing untouchability, underlying the prohibition of this caste-linked occupation.