Banned By Law: Why Manual Scavenging Still Persists In India

Despite repeated claims of progress, little has changed for those working in sewers and septic tanks. Workers continue to die in entirely preventable circumstances. Despite legal bans and repeated assurances from the authorities, the practice remains widespread. Many are still exposed to toxic gases, unsafe conditions and severe risks.

In just the first four months of this year, 52 people lost their lives while cleaning sewers and septic tanks. Bezwada Wilson wrote in a post on X: “Parliament will never have a special session to discuss and eradicate this barbaric, caste-based practice.”

Manual scavenging remains banned under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. Outlook spoke to people still doing this work despite claims that it has ended.

“Hum bhooke mare kya? (Should we starve?)” asks Jaypal, now in his 50s, who has spent more than three decades in the trade.

“No one forced me into this, but there was no other option. I entered through friends and have done it for 30 to 35 years, never once being given gloves or safety equipment. Some days I earn ₹400–₹500, some days nothing, and there is no regular work,” he says.

“What can I do, and who will give me the chance to leave this profession? If this work stops, what will people like us do? We are not sitting at home; we need to survive. People talk about machines, but how will they work everywhere? And life is not valued for people like us. If I die, it is just another person’s death. If there were another option, who would choose this work? The government should give us other jobs.”

Dr Renu Chhachhar said that while modern technology is used across many sectors, it is still not deployed to clean sewers and septic tanks. “Everyone knows it is illegal, but it continues openly, largely because no serious action has been taken against those responsible,” she said, while adding that because of the stigma around the job, many workers never tell their families what they do. Families learned the truth after the death of the workers.

“Manual scavenging may be legally banned under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, but it continues widely in cities like Delhi due to poor enforcement, denial by authorities to evade accountability, chronic underreporting, and the failure to identify and rehabilitate workers properly,” said Amit Sahni, who filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court in 2019, seeking strict implementation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.

He added that a major loophole is the outsourcing of sanitation work without proper monitoring or accountability. While the government may not directly instruct contractors to employ manual scavengers, authorities know that sewers and manholes are still being cleaned manually and often ignore it as long as the work is completed.

“In most cases, responsibility is denied until a death brings attention,” he said. “When a sewer worker dies, criminal liability is usually pushed onto the contractor or immediate supervisor, while government departments distance themselves by claiming no permission was given for manual entry.”

Such a defence does not absolve officials who are legally required to supervise work and prevent hazardous cleaning. In practice, accountability often rests with no one because investigations are weak and prosecutions delayed.

Beyond statutory compensation, families may still seek criminal prosecution, independent investigations through writ petitions, enhanced compensation, damages for violations of fundamental rights, and disciplinary action against negligent officials.

Amit Sahni said the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, is clear on paper. “Sections 5 and 8 expressly prohibit manual scavenging, including insanitary latrines and the employment of people for such work, with penalties for violations.”

He argued that the real problem is not the law itself but its enforcement. Although the Act creates no formal exceptions, authorities often bypass it by outsourcing hazardous cleaning, misclassifying sewer work as routine maintenance, or citing urgency when no mechanised alternative is available.

“These are not loopholes in the statute, but methods of circumvention in the gap between law and enforcement,” he said.

According to Sahni, the central issue is systemic evasion: weak enforcement, poor investigations and diffused accountability mean violations rarely lead to successful prosecution.

“The end of manual scavenging requires stronger legal action beyond PILs—personal criminal liability for negligent officers and contractors in every case of sewer cleaning or death, along with mandatory FIRs under the 2013 Act,” he said.

He called for independent special investigation teams to examine sewer deaths, time-bound surveys under High Court supervision to identify and rehabilitate workers, and annual social audits of local bodies. He also urged the blacklisting of contractors involved in hazardous cleaning and recovery of compensation from negligent officials.

Sahni said vigilance and monitoring bodies, including the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, must function effectively with mandatory public disclosure of compliance. But he warned that legal action alone is not enough. Sanitation work must be fully mechanised, alongside sustained public awareness, so that manual scavenging is recognised not as labour but as a crime against human dignity.

Another worker said he continues to work without protective equipment.

“I am a dihadi (daily wage) worker. Sometimes I get work, sometimes I don’t,” he said. “Some days I earn around ₹1,500. If there is no work, I do other labour, plumbing, field work — whatever I can find.”

“I am an old man. If the government says it should be banned, then it should be,” he added. But for workers like Phul Kumar, the question is what comes next.

Although the Supreme Court of India has directed that ₹10 lakh be paid in compensation for sewer and septic tank deaths, the reality on the ground is often very different.

“I lost my husband, Ajit, nearly 30 years ago in a sewer death, when our children were still small,” said Raj Kumari. “He was not even a sanitation worker; he was a plumber. Someone took him, saying he could earn money like others. He went in without gloves or safety gear. He never came back.”

She said she received no compensation. “I was left alone with three children. I had no choice but to start cleaning work and did it for nearly 20 years to raise them. Even today, nothing has come — no help, no recognition.”

Her story reflects a wider pattern: deaths without accountability, and families left without support while the system looks away until another life is lost.

Bezwada Wilson, National Convener of Safai Karamchari Aandolan, said the focus has shifted to compensation and safety kits, when the real issue should be the complete abolition of the practice.

The law promises abolition, but the reality remains stark. Workers still enter sewers without protective gear, contractors continue to rely on manual labour instead of mechanisation, and authorities deny, delay and deflect responsibility. These are preventable deaths that must end.