NEW DELHI: Of the 1,248 people who died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in the country since 1993, Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of deaths at 253, followed by Gujarat at 183, Uttar Pradesh at 133 and Delhi at 116.
The official data was shared in the Rajya Sabha by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Thursday. Responding to another question, he said no deaths due to manual cleaning have been reported so far.
Pointing out that neither any person nor any authority shall engage or employ anyone to carry out manual scavenging, he said in a written reply that anyone who does so in contravention of the provisions of the MS Act, 2013 will be punished under Section 8 Imprisonment of up to two years shall be fine up to Rs 1 lakh, or both.
No report has been received from the districts on the practice of manual cleaning, he added.
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