43 died while cleaning sewers, septic tanks in 6 months, but Budget remain silent, says Bezwada Wilson

Between the provisional budget on February 1, 2024, and the federal budget on July 23, 2024, 43 garbage workers died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks, but the 2024 federal budget did not mention cases of manual scavenging of faeces or deaths in sewers, said Bezwada Wilson, national coordinator of Safai Karmachari Andolan.

“Such deaths are not only a gross violation of human rights, they are also in violation of the various Supreme Court orders preventing manual scavenging of faeces. Moreover, since every single person involved in this work and henceforth dies in the pits belongs to the Dalit community, these deaths are also a clear violation of the Prevention of Atrocities Act and also amount to untouchability, which is illegal in India. But ironically, the Indian government hardly cares about these facts,” Wilson said in a statement.

He further said, “The deaths of garbage workers in sewers and septic tanks is an ongoing human rights crisis in India, but the government is constantly in denial. The government has no system in place to comprehensively track such deaths. Whenever such an incident occurs, the government's first reaction is to disguise it as an accidental death.”

“The government's indifference towards the deaths of Safai Karmacharis is reflected in the fact that it does not even accept the definition of 'manual scavenging' as mentioned in the Act passed by the Indian Parliament. By simply denying the practice of manual scavenging of sewers and septic tanks, the government is blatantly refusing to recognise these deaths under the law. This is a complete violation of the Supreme Court judgement regarding compensation and other benefits to the kin of the persons who die in sewers and septic tanks. The government must accept that these deaths are not just due to occupational diseases. These are heinous crimes against the Dalit sanitation workers. Such deaths must be prevented,” he added.

The award-winning social activist pointed out that numerous reports have emerged about the tragic deaths of garbage collectors who continue to risk their lives cleaning sewers and septic tanks.

“Despite numerous calls for reforms and implementation of laws to eradicate this dangerous practice, the government's negligence remains glaring. There is little evidence of any substantive action being taken to prevent such incidents in the future. Moreover, the government has failed to regulate local authorities, who continually fail to provide necessary safety equipment or training to those involved in such emergency clean-up operations. The lack of robust action reflects a general societal indifference to issues affecting marginalised communities in India,” he said.

Safai Karmachari Andolan blames the government for its failure in protecting the lives of the garbage workers and demands the government to acknowledge these deaths and urges the authorities not to distort data and facts in this regard.