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Even after India declaring manual scavenging illegal in the year 1993, the work of manual scavenging continues to be in existence. With the increase in deaths of manual scavengers and taking it to an average of 1 death a day, PIL pertaining to investigation of such deaths has been filed in the Apex court.
Public Interest Litigation filed by Criminal Justice Society of India seeks immediate investigation and criminal proceeding against the contractors and local authorities hiring such workers. The PIL thus filed through Adv. Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi demand justice for the workers by means of criminal proceedings of culpable homicide not amounting to murder to be initiated against the local authorities and contractors hiring such workers.
The legislative framework in the year 1993 passed by the Legislation could not be enacted in a proper way and thus the UPA government in the year enacted a new law “The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013”.
The data that the petitioner sets out data out of the reports and surveys that around 1500 people have died between 2014 and 2016 – after enactment of the “The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013”. Moreover it says that no convictions have been since 1993 till date for the violation of the 2013 Act. In 2015 Telangana reported an unbelievable figure that it still has 1,57,321 dry sewages but none manual scavengers.
The petition states that the workers are exposed to inhuman working conditions sewage and pits without and protective gears. Thus this direct contact with the sewage and pits result In contact of the workers with chronic or acute diseases. Many times these diseases result in death of the workers where they are not even provide with any kind of compensations. The petition also states that the Central govt to be directed to disclose the number of deaths caused from 1993 till date due to manual scavenging. The petitioner through the petition also seeks that directions to be issued to Chief Divisional Personnel Officers of the Indian Railways to submit list of directly or indirectly manual scavengers employed since 1993.
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