Death Of Labourers Hired For Manual Scavenging:
Three labourers in Mumbai, allegedly hired for manual scavenging, died after inhaling toxic fumes in a septic tank.
- Even though manual scavenging is banned in India, the practice is still prevalent in many parts of the country.
- Manual scavenging is the practice of removing human excreta by hand from sewers or septic tanks.
- India banned the practice under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (PEMSR).
- The Act recognizes manual scavenging as a “dehumanizing practice,” and cites a need to “correct the historical injustice and indignity suffered by the manual scavengers.”
- Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees ‘Right to Life’ and that also with dignity.
- This right is available to both citizens and non-citizens.
- The ban Manual Scavenging should, therefore, should be implemented in letter and spirit.
