NHRC issues notice to Tamil Nadu govt after 3 die cleaning septic tank

The report by the NHRC also asked the senior bureaucrat about the compensations, if any, that had been provided to the next of kin of the deceased

Three people died on Tuesday while cleaning a septic tank at an under-construction house in the Gandhi Nagar area of the Karur district in Tamil Nadu, according to National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

According to the Centre’s data, over 941 casualties were reported due to the cleaning of sewers and septic tanks (Representative Image)

The Commission, while taking suo moto cognizance of the matter came down heavily on the Tamil Nadu government over the death of the workers due to manual scavenging.

It observed that despite the Supreme Court’s judgment, which provided a specific mandate to the local authorities and other agencies to use modern technology for cleaning, and enactment of the “Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013” - the number of casualties have been rampant.

NHRC further issued notices to the chief secretary, director general of police, Tamil Nadu, and the municipal commissioner and asked them to submit a report within six weeks of the case.

In a statement, NHRC said, “The chief secretary has to submit an action taken report regarding fixing the responsibility/accountability of the concerned authorities, who had entrusted the cleaning of the septic tank at the construction site.”

The report by the NHRC also asked the senior bureaucrat about the compensations, if any, that had been provided to the next of kin of the deceased. The report further asked to update on the welfare schemes that provide security covers to sanitary workers contributing to high-risk jobs that had been initiated or were to be initiated by the state government.

“Action taken report must also contain implementation of the advisory issued by the NHRC on 24th September 2021 about the protection of human rights of the person engaged in hazardous cleaning and its outcome,” the NHRC said in the release.

Additionally, the DGP has been requested to submit the FIR of the incident and if someone was apprehended due to negligence in the case.

NHRC also asked the municipal commissioner to act on the case. “Municipal commissioner Karur has to submit a report specifying the public servant(s) involved in the culpable negligence causing death by not enabling the workers to use safety gear and protective equipment while cleaning and the disciplinary action initiated against them as per the prevalent service rules,” the NHRC mentioned in the release.

According to the Centre’s data, over 941 casualties were reported due to the cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. Tamil Nadu contributed to the highest number of deaths at 213, with Gujarat taking the second spot at 152 and UP and Delhi at 104 and 98 respectively.

This data was collected by 21 state governments, as informed by the Centre based on surveys conducted by local authorities in 2013 and 2018.

The survey noted that 58,098 people were working as manual scavengers.