Legislative Interventions

The Employment of Manual Scavengers & Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993

As per entry 6 in the State List of the Constitution, “Sanitation” is a State subject. However, taking into consideration the seriousness of the problem and the resolutions passed by the legislatures of six States (AP, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal & Tripura), the Parliament had enacted the above legislation under Article 252 (“Power of Parliament to legislate for two or more States by consent and adoption of such legislation by any other State”) of the Constitution.

The Act came into force on January 26, 1997 in all the Union Territories and the above six States. Subsequently, 19 other States also adopted it. The remaining three States viz. Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan have their own Acts.

National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK)

NCSK was first constituted under the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act 1993 in August, 1994. The Act ceased to have effect on 29.2.2004, after which, the tenure of the Commission has been extended, as a non-statutory body, through Resolutions, from time to time. The present Commission has been constituted through a Resolution for a period up to 31.03.2016.

The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013

The ‘Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013’ was published in the Official Gazette on 19.9.2013 and notification for giving effect to the Act from 6th December, 2013, was issued on 2nd October, 2013. This Act intends to, inter alia, achieve its objectives to:

• Eliminate the insanitary latrines.
• Prohibit: Employment as Manual Scavengers, Hazardous manual cleaning of sewer and septic tanks
• Survey of Manual Scavengers and their rehabilitation, within a time bound manner, and casts various responsibilities on the State/UTs

Main features of the Act are as follows:

i. Definition and prohibition of Insanitary Latrines

1. The Act prohibits “insanitary latrine” which is defined as one which requires human excreta to be cleaned or otherwise handled manually, before complete decomposition, either in situ or in an open drain or pit into which the excreta is discharged or flushed.
2. Sub Section 2 of Section 5 of the Act provides that every insanitary latrine shall be demolished or converted by the occupier, at his own cost, within nine months of the coming into force of the Act.

Definition and Prohibition of employment as Manual Scavenger

The Act prohibits employment as manual scavenger (MS) and defines a manual scavenger as a person employed for “manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit into which human excreta from insanitary latrines is disposed of, or on a railway track, …. before the excreta fully decomposes…”

Schematic Interventions

Various Schemes have been formulated by the Central Government for the elimination of insanitary latrines and the rehabilitation of manual scavengers. They are given below:

• Integrated Low Cost Sanitation Scheme –for conversion of dry/insanitary latrines in urban areas.
• Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan (formerly Total Sanitation Campaign) – for, inter-alia, construction of sanitary latrines in rural areas.
• Pre-matric Scholarship to children of those engaged in ‘unclean’ occupations, including manual scavengers.
• Concessional loans for self-employment through the National Safai Karmacharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC),