SC orders govt to pay ₹30 lakh compensation to families of those who die cleaning sewer

The court said ₹20 lakh will be paid to those who suffer permanent disabilities while cleaning sewers.

Published on: Oct 20, 2023, 13:57:51 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Supreme Court of India on Friday said that government authorities will have to pay ₹30 lakh as compensation to the kin of those who die while cleaning sewers, PTI reported.

At least 58,098 manual scavengers were identified across the country in two surveys in 2013 and 2018. (File)

A bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar also said that those who suffer permanent disabilities while cleaning sewers will be paid a minimum compensation of ₹20 lakh.

A sum of ₹10 lakh will be given to those who suffer any other form of disability while cleaning sewers, the bench added, while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL).

"The Union and the state governments must ensure that manual scavenging is completely eradicated," the bench said, according to PTI.

The bench directed that the government agencies must coordinate to ensure that such incidents do not occur. It also remarked that High Courts are not precluded from monitoring the cases related to sewer deaths.

The top court also issued a slew of directions, which were not read during the hearing. A detailed order is awaited.

Nearly 350 people have died in sewers in the last five years, PTI reported, citing the government data shared before the Lok Sabha in 2022. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi accounted for 40% of these deaths, it added.

Last year, the government told the Rajya Sabha that 58,098 manual scavengers were identified across the country in two surveys in 2013 and 2018.

Manual scavenging is banned under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. The caste-based practice was first banned in 1993 but activists allege that it still prevails.

The government distinguishes between manual scavenging – a caste-based practice of people cleaning human excreta by hand – and the practice of cleaning sewers and septic tanks though experts point out that the latter is a mere extension of the now-banned practice.

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