Manual Scavenging and Sanitation Worker Safety in India

Manual scavenging is banned in India. The ban comes from the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. It has been in force since 6 December 2013.

1.1 Who is a manual scavenger under the Act?

The Act defines a manual scavenger in section 2(1)(g). It is a person engaged or employed to manually clean, carry, dispose of or otherwise handle human excreta. The places named are an insanitary latrine, an open drain or pit into which its excreta goes, and a railway track.

The Act adds one exception. A person who cleans excreta with notified devices and protective gear is not deemed a manual scavenger.

1.2 What is an insanitary latrine?

An insanitary latrine needs its excreta to be cleaned or handled by hand. This can happen on the spot, or in an open drain or pit where the excreta is flushed out.

A latrine that is not insanitary is called a sanitary latrine. The Act also says a water-flush latrine in a railway coach is not insanitary when an employee cleans it with notified devices and protective gear.

1.3 What exactly does the Act ban?

Section 5 bans two things after the Act began:

• building an insanitary latrine;
• engaging or employing a manual scavenger, directly or indirectly.

A person already engaged as a manual scavenger stands discharged at once from any duty to do that work. Section 6 also voids older contracts for manual scavenging. A full-time manual scavenger cannot be retrenched. If willing, the person is kept on at least the same pay and given other work.

1.4 Which law came before the 2013 Act?

An earlier law was the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. The 2013 Act says its own provisions override that 1993 Act.

Sewer and septic tank cleaning is a different category. The Act does not use the words “manual scavenging” for it. It uses the words hazardous cleaning. The two categories have different sections and different penalties.

2.1 What is hazardous cleaning?

Section 2(1)(d) defines it. Hazardous cleaning is the manual cleaning of a sewer or septic tank by an employee. It becomes hazardous when the employer has not provided protective gear and cleaning devices. It also covers a failure to follow the safety precautions set by law.

Section 7 bars any person, local authority or agency from engaging anyone for hazardous cleaning of a sewer or septic tank.

2.2 What is the difference in one line?

• Manual scavenging: handling human excreta in an insanitary latrine, open drain or pit. Banned under sections 5 and 6.
• Hazardous cleaning: manual cleaning of a sewer or septic tank without gear and safeguards. Barred under section 7.

Business Standard reports the same split in the government’s August 2026 reply. The reply counted no deaths as manual scavenging deaths. It counted sewer and septic tank deaths under hazardous cleaning.

2.3 What are the penalties?

The Act sets two different ladders:

• Section 8 covers sections 5 and 6. A first offence can bring up to one year in prison, a fine up to ₹50,000, or both. A later offence can bring up to two years, a fine up to ₹1 lakh, or both.
• Section 9 covers section 7. A first offence can bring up to two years, a fine up to ₹2 lakh, or both. A later offence can bring up to five years, a fine up to ₹5 lakh, or both.

Some PIB releases give only the higher section 8 step (“up to two years or ₹1 lakh”). The Act’s own text gives both steps, so this lesson follows the Act.

2.4 How are offences handled?

Section 22 says every offence under the Act is cognizable and non-bailable. Section 10 says a court takes cognizance only on a complaint made within three months of the offence.

The government told the Lok Sabha on 21 July 2026 that States and Union Territories had registered 193 FIRs in the last five years. The FIRs were against agencies and officials responsible for hazardous manual cleaning.

The Act does more than ban the work. Section 13 lists how a person on the final list of manual scavengers is to be rehabilitated. The District Magistrate is responsible for each person’s rehabilitation.

3.1 What does rehabilitation include?

Section 13 gives these entitlements:

• a photo identity card within one month, and initial one-time cash assistance;
• scholarships for the person’s children;
• a residential plot and house-building aid, or a ready-built house, subject to eligibility and willingness;
• livelihood skill training for the person or one adult family member, with a monthly stipend of at least ₹3,000;
• a subsidy and concessional loan for an alternative occupation;
• other legal and programme help that the government may notify.

3.2 How far has rehabilitation reached?

A written reply reported by PIB on 31 July 2026 gave these figures for the manual scavengers identified in the 2013 and 2018 surveys:

• 58,098 were identified.
• All of them received one-time cash assistance.
• 27,926 completed skill development training.
• 2,803 received a capital subsidy for a self-employment project.

The Act asks local bodies to survey and list manual scavengers. India has run two national surveys under it. Their results sit beside a newer claim of zero.

4.1 What did the 2013 and 2018 surveys find?

A table given to the Rajya Sabha on 26 July 2023 lists the numbers:

• 2013 survey: 13,881 manual scavengers.
• 2018 survey: 44,217.
• Total: 58,098, across 17 States.

Uttar Pradesh had the most at 32,473. Maharashtra had 6,325, Uttarakhand 4,988 and Assam 3,921.

4.2 Who ran the 2018 survey, and where?

Down To Earth reports that the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) ran the 2018 survey for the Ministry. It covered only the statutory towns of 14 States.

The magazine says this treats manual scavenging as an urban problem and leaves rural sanitation unexamined. That is the magazine’s view, not a government finding.

The 2023 Supreme Court judgment describes the same exercise as a National Survey held between 2018 and 2020 in 194 districts. It identified 44,217 manual scavengers.

4.3 What does the government say about the count today?

Several official statements stack up:

• In December 2021 the Ministry said field checks of a mobile app, launched on 24 December 2020, had verified no insanitary latrine.
• In July 2023 it said 530 of 766 districts had reported themselves manual scavenging-free. It added that no credible data had been uploaded on the app.
• In July 2026 the Lok Sabha was told that recent surveys across all districts reported no instance of manual scavenging.
• Business Standard says all districts finished a fresh survey in 2024-25 and found no manual scavenger.

The Supreme Court has said earlier surveys were weak. In October 2023 it directed that plans for a new national survey be drawn up within three months (see section 5).

Two Supreme Court judgments shape this topic. Both deal with deaths in sewers and septic tanks. Both tie the practice to the Constitution’s promise of dignity.

5.1 What did the 2014 judgment say?

Safai Karamchari Andolan v. Union of India was decided in 2014. It is reported as (2014) 11 SCC 224. The 2023 judgment quotes its directions.

The judgment quoted by the Court in 2023 says entering sewer lines without safety gear should be made a crime, even in an emergency. It also says each such death should bring ₹10 lakh to the family.

5.2 What did the 2023 judgment add?

Dr. Balram Singh v. Union of India was decided on 20 October 2023 (2023 INSC 950). Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar sat on the bench. The Court said:

• compensation for a sewer death must rise to ₹30 lakh;
• for a disability, compensation must be at least ₹10 lakh;
• if the disability is permanent and leaves the victim economically helpless, it must be at least ₹20 lakh;
• manual sewer cleaning must be eradicated in a phased manner;
• a contract must be cancelled at once when a death happens in outsourced work.

5.3 Which Constitution Articles did the Court name?

In its closing paragraphs the 2023 judgment names Articles 15(2), 17, 23 and 24 as emancipatory provisions. It says the Union and the States must see that manual scavenging is completely eradicated. It also relies on Article 21, which guarantees dignity.

The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) works for sanitation workers. Its legal status is a favourite exam point, because it changed in 2004.

6.1 How did the NCSK begin, and what is its status now?

A statutory NCSK was first constituted in August 1994 under the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993. The Act’s validity was extended, first to 31 March 2002 and then to 29 February 2004. The Act ceased to have effect on 29 February 2004.

Since then the NCSK has been a non-statutory body. Its tenure is extended from time to time through government resolutions. The Commission works under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

6.2 How long does its present term run?

On 7 February 2025 the Union Cabinet extended the NCSK’s tenure by three years beyond 31 March 2025. The new end date is 31 March 2028. The extra cost was put at about ₹50.91 crore.

6.3 What are its duties under the 2013 Act?

Under section 31 the NCSK has four jobs:

• monitor how the Act is implemented;
• enquire into complaints that the Act has been broken;
• advise the Centre and States on effective implementation;
• take suo motu notice of non-implementation.

NAMASTE is the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem. It was launched in July 2023. It is aimed at hazardous sewer and septic tank cleaning. The 2013 ban on manual scavenging came a decade earlier.

7.1 Who runs NAMASTE and what does it give?

Two ministries formulated it jointly: Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE), and Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). PIB gives an outlay of ₹349.70 crore for three years up to 2025-26, in 4,800+ urban local bodies.

Its parts include:

• profiling of sewer and septic tank workers (SSWs);
• safety training and PPE kits;
• safety devices for Sanitation Response Units (later releases call them ERSUs);
• health cover under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY;
• funding support and capital subsidy through the NSKFDC to buy sanitation equipment and vehicles;
• skill training of up to two years, with a stipend of ₹3,000 a month, for identified manual scavengers.

The earlier Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) was folded in as components of NAMASTE.

7.2 What are its goals?

PIB lists the intended outcomes:

• zero fatalities in sanitation work;
• no direct contact of sanitation workers with human faecal matter;
• all cleaning done with safety devices;
• all sanitation work done by skilled workers.

PIB says the 3rd NAMASTE Day was planned for 14 July 2026, with the main event in Kolkata.

7.3 How many workers has NAMASTE reached?

DD India reported the “latest data” on 20 July 2026:

• 89,915 sewer and septic tank workers validated;
• 87,037 PPE kits given to them;
• health cards for 76,845 of them;
• 2,81,117 waste pickers validated, with 1,84,118 PPE kits;
• 753 Emergency Response Sanitation Units (ERSUs) equipped with safety devices.

On 31 July 2026 PIB added that 1,023 sanitation workers got capital assistance for mechanised equipment. It also said 20,293 beneficiaries completed safety and skill training, and 1,81,062 are under health insurance.

7.4 How many sewer workers died, and how can zero scavengers sit beside deaths?

In a written Lok Sabha reply reported on 5 August 2026, the government cited NCSK data. It said 498 sanitation workers died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2026. Yearly counts:

• 2019: 132; 2020: 34; 2021: 62; 2022: 88;
• 2023: 65; 2024: 54; 2025: 47;
• first half of 2026: 16.

The same reply said no death was reported from manual scavenging. The two statements fit because the law counts them as two categories (section 2).

The 2021 to 2026 figures add up to 332. PIB’s 21 July 2026 release gives 332 deaths in 18 States and Union Territories for that window. None of these sources says why the count fell from the 2019 peak.

7.5 Were the families paid?

PIB’s 31 July 2026 release covers the 332 deaths from 2021 to June 2026. Full compensation was paid in 268 cases. Partial compensation was paid in 18.

Outlook India’s reading of the 498-case reply is different in scope. It lists 345 cases in the full ₹10 lakh category and 75 in the full ₹30 lakh category. It lists 22 partial cases and 56 where payment could not be confirmed. It also says the government gave no deadline for full mechanisation.

Exam writers like the line between the two legal categories. They also like dates, bodies and campaigns. The checks below follow the likely traps.

8.1 What are the common traps?

• Manual scavenging (sections 5, 6, penalty in section 8) is not the same as hazardous cleaning (section 7, penalty in section 9).
• The 2013 Act has been in force since 6 December 2013.
• The NCSK Act lapsed in 2004. The NCSK is non-statutory today.
• NAMASTE was launched in July 2023, by MoSJE and MoHUA, for hazardous sewer and septic tank cleaning.
• The Court’s sewer-death compensation is ₹30 lakh since October 2023. It was ₹10 lakh under the 2014 judgment.

8.2 What is Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan?

The name is a trap because it sounds like a government scheme. The Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan calls itself the National Campaign for Dignity and Eradication of Manual Scavenging. Its 2011 report lists Jan Sahas as its secretariat and names partner organisations.

The government’s own schemes are different. They include SRMS and NAMASTE.

8.3 Which exam asked about it?

UPSC CSP 2016, Q16.
‘Rashtriya Garima Abhiyaan’ is a national campaign to
(a) rehabilitate the homeless and destitute persons and provide them with suitable sources of livelihood
(b) release the sex workers from their practice and provide them with alternative sources of livelihood
(c) eradicate the practice of manual scavenging and rehabilitate the manual scavengers
(d) release the bonded labourers from their bondage and rehabilitate them

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