Sewer, septic tank cleaning an occupation-based rather than caste-based activity, Centre tells Lok Sabha 

Representative image | Photo credit: SS Kumar

Citing data from its first-ever survey of sewerage and septic tank workers (SSWs) in cities and towns in India, the Union Ministry of Social Justice on Tuesday (December 17, 2024) told Parliament that cleaning of sewers and septic tanks is “employment-dependent ” is “activity rather than caste-based” work.

Data from the survey, part of the government's NAMASTE program and first published by The Hindu in September this year, showed that nearly 92% of all profiled workers were from Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) or others backward Classes were from (OBCs) communities with the remaining around 8% coming from general category communities.

Responding to a question from Congress MP from Ganganagar Kuldeep Indora, Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale said a total of 54,574 SSWs have been profiled and validated in 33 states and Union Territories so far under the government's NAMASTE programme.

Of these, 67.91% (37,060) were from SC communities, 15.73% (8,587) from OBC communities, 8.31% (4,536) from ST communities and 8.05% (4,391) from the general category.

“Cleaning sewers and septic tanks is a job-based activity rather than a caste-based activity,” Mr Athawale said.

Profiling of SSWs is carried out under the NAMASTE program, a program to mechanize all wastewater work and prevent deaths due to hazardous cleaning work. In 2023-24, this program was introduced to replace the self-employment program for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers.

The Union government's rationale is that manual flushing has been abolished as a practice across the country and what needs to be done now is the dangerous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. This distinction is based on a technical difference in the definition of manual scavengers and hazardous cleaning in the law on the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and their rehabilitation.

Between 2019 and 2023, at least 377 people died across the country due to dangerous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, according to government data presented to Parliament.

The NAMASTE program is aimed at “workers directly involved in cleaning sewers and septic tanks, including drivers of desludging vehicles, helpers, machine operators and cleaners,” according to the ministry. The goal is to profile these workers in a nationwide survey, give them safety training and equipment, and offer capital grants that could turn sewer workers and septic tank workers into “sanipreneurs,” or plumbing contractors.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs estimates that there are 100 essential sanitation workers for a city population of five million. On this basis, the government estimated, using decadal growth rates, that one lakh SSWs are expected to be employed in India's 4,800 urban localities from 2021. The NAMASTE program aims to profile all SSWs across the country to create a central database.

Apart from profiling, the NAMASTE program has so far provided over 16,700 personal protective equipment (PPE) kits and 43 safety equipment kits for emergency sanitation operations in urban municipalities, the government said in its reply in Lok Sabha.

It added that over 13,000 beneficiaries have received Ayushmaan cards, about 503 beneficiaries and their families have been provided capital grants for sanitation projects and about 226 beneficiaries and family members have been provided capital grants for alternative livelihoods.

Published – December 17, 2024 04:30 pm IST