New Delhi: Despite the Supreme Court order and the enactment of the law, the government is now going to amend the law due to the ban on the practice of manual scavenging. Under this, it will be mandatory to clean the sewer with a machine.According to the report of the Indian Express, a 24 × 7 helpline will be created at the national level to report any violation of these laws. A senior official said that the government's aim is to eliminate manual scavenging from the country by August 2021.
To fulfill this step, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs started the 'Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge' on Thursday. The challenge, launched on the occasion of World Toilet Day, is to prevent the hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks and to promote cleanliness from their machines.
Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs (Independent Charge) Hardeep Singh Puri launched the Safai Mitra Suraksha Challenge in 243 cities of the country.
Puri said, 'Prohibition of employment as manual scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act (2013) and various judgments of the Hon'ble Supreme Court expressly prohibit dangerous and harmful sanitation activities i.e., any person without wearing protective equipment The septic cannot enter the tank or sewer nor participate in such processes. '
He continued, 'Despite this, the recurrence of human disasters among employees engaged in cleaning septic tanks and sewers is a matter of concern, as this problem is usually associated with the economically deprived and marginalized communities of society.'
Ministry Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra, while referring to its framework, said that the challenge will be focused on creating infrastructure for mechanized sanitation and capacity building of the workforce as well as creating awareness among citizens on this important issue.
He said that along with this, a dedicated helpline number has been started to provide real-time based solutions to solve the problem of sewer overflow besides filing complaints and resolving them.
He said that the actual on-ground evaluation of the participating cities will be done by an independent agency in May 2021 and the results will be announced on 15 August 2021.
Mishra said, 'Cities will be awarded in three sub-categories. Cities with a population of more than 10 lakhs, a population of 3 to 10 lakhs and a population of up to 3 lakhs. The total prize money to be awarded to the winning cities in all categories will be Rs 52 crore. '
He also said that the Ministry has directed that henceforth the word 'manhole' will not be used, for this only the word 'machine-hole' will be used.
Let us know that in the last five years 376 people who have cleaned sewer have died, out of which 110 people died in 2019 itself. At the same time, 631 people have lost their lives in the last 10 years during the cleaning of sewer and septic tanks.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has decided that instead of giving money to the contractor or the municipality, they will provide funds directly to the workers to buy cleaning machines.
Ministry Secretary R.R. Subrahmanyam said, 'After the amendment in the law, the use of machines will become mandatory. This will not be optional. Some municipalities like Hyderabad have done well in this direction, but it should be everywhere. '
On December 6, 2013, the Prevention of Scavenging as Employment and Rehabilitation Act, 2013 came into effect. The Act clearly states that cleaning sewer and septic tanks without protective equipment is in the category of hazardous sanitation and can lead to punitive action.
Explain that under the Manual Scavenging Act 2013, sending any person to the sewer is completely prohibited. If, in an odd situation, the sweeper is sent inside the sewer, then 27 types of rules have to be followed. However, due to continuous violation of these rules, during the sewer cleaning, workers are dying.
 |
0 Comments