What Is Manual Scavenging?

Malini
Why Caste Matters
Published in
3 min readJun 4, 2020

Manual scavenging is an umbrella term for the unsafe and manual processes of removing human excreta from toilets or pit latrines. It is generally done by hand using basic tools such as thin board, buckets and baskets, which are then carried on the head. This occupation has historically been forced upon Dalits (those from the untouchable caste).

Source: India Today Art By Tanmoy Chakraborty

As activist Subhojit Goswami explains, “from drains and sewers to septic tanks and railway tracks, more than half a million manual scavengers across the country are cleaning, carrying and disposing of human excreta and everything else that we flush down the toilet. They force themselves into choked sewers and septic tanks, hang on for hours, scooping out filth with bare hands and bearing the stench of sewage”.

Each year, hundreds of manual scavengers die from exposure to poisonous gases.

Despite its dehumanising and caste-based nature, the practice was only outlawed in 1993 under the The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act. This law intended to punish the employment of manual scavengers and construction of dry (non-flush) latrines with imprisonment for up to one year and/or a Rs 2,000 fine.

However, during the 20 years the law was in place, no convictions occurred.

Recognising the wide prevalence of manual scavenging despite the 1993 law, The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013 or M.S. Act 2013 was established twenty years later. This legislation included broader objectives such as:

  • the elimination of unsanitary latrines,
  • prohibition of employment of manual scavengers and hazardous manual cleaning of sewer and septic tanks, and
  • maintenance of a survey of manual scavengers and their rehabilitation.

However, in March 2014, the Supreme Court of India disclosed that there were 96 Lakh (9.6 Million) dry latrines being manually emptied. The exact number of manual scavengers has been disputed with official figures putting it at around 700,000 people, most of whom are women.

The consequences for manual scavengers who attempt to quit this work can range from violence to further expulsion from the public sphere. The starting point to end this practice is for those who benefit from the labour of manual scavengers to start cleaning their own waste.

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