Abstract

Manual scavenging is a practice where humans are made to clean other humans’ waste and excreta. It is the most violent form of caste abuse in today’s time. Before delving into the inhumane socio-economic conditions which consistently plague the lives of manual scavengers, it is important to understand the definition of the term “manual scavengers” as provided under The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. The Authors argue that the definition provided in the Act has various loopholes. It is extremely restricted in its ambit, thereby excluding many workers involved in this practice, due to its flawed interpretation. In essence, it does not include the people who handle human waste with proper safety gear, without elaborating on the term “safety gear”. It also excludes people who manually clean the dead & rotting animals, abandoned dead bodies or medical waste, which often also carries human waste in various forms. Historically, manual scavenging is a social wrong which has been prevalent since times immemorial and often delegated to the lower castes due their low placing in the caste hierarchy. Despite the evolution of human rights in 19th century, it was only in 1993 that a legislation prohibiting manual scavenging was passed in India, followed by the new Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 with elaborated definitions and punishments. However, this inhumane practice of manual scavenging is still prevalent in India due to the loopholes in the present legislations. The practice is beneath the dignity of any individual and deprives them of their basic human rights, putting a large section of the society on the fringes of the society to be neglected and looked down upon. The nexus between manual scavenging as the default occupation for few particular castes/sections of society needs to be looked into. The existing legislation is lacking and the ground reality is quite different than envisioned. Therefore, according to Authors, the problems of the inhumane working conditions, the gender bias and the caste nexus need to be deeply studied and analysed to provide workable socio- legal solutions.

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