Sewer Workers’ Workshop in New Delhi Called for Urgent Reforms to
End Sewer Deaths and Ensure Dignity, Justice and Labour Rights for Sewer and Septic Workers
New Delhi, (Asian independent) — More than a hundred participants—including sewer and septic workers, union representatives, researchers, lawyers, academics, journalists, and civil society members—gathered at the Constitution Club of India for a workshop titled “Underground Voices: Empowering the Backbone of Our Cities” on 24th May 2025. The event was a powerful call to action against the widespread and preventable deaths of sewer and septic tank workers in India and a demand for dignified, lawful, and safe working conditions.
The workshop was jointly organised by Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) and a coalition of unions and civil society organisations, foregrounding the voices and experiences of sewer workers who are regularly exposed to life-threatening risks with little to no institutional support or protection. Despite repeated Supreme Court rulings and statutory bans, hazardous manual scavenging continues—underscoring a failure of enforcement, regulation, and political will.
Manual scavengers in India remain one of the most exploited labour groups. The vast majority—estimated at 92%—belong to historically oppressed and marginalised communities, predominantly Dalits, and are routinely subjected to systemic caste-based discrimination. These workers are typically hired through private contractors or informal arrangements, depriving them of job security, fair wages, legal protections, and access to safety equipment.
It is within this context that the workshop was convened—to bring attention to the plight of sewer workers and to create a collective and participatory platform to advance dignified, safe, and equitable working conditions for them.
The workshop also exposed a stark contradiction between official government records and the ongoing deaths of manual scavengers. While government statistics report a relatively low number of fatalities each year, independent investigations and reports—including the latest DASAM fact-finding study—indicate that the true figures are significantly higher. This discrepancy reflects systematic under-reporting, lack of accurate data collection, and deliberate obfuscation by contractors and municipal agencies.
At the heart of the workshop was the release of the compiled fact-finding report by DASAM, which meticulously documented more than 11 manual scavenging deaths reported between May 2024 and May 2025 across both urban and rural areas of Delhi-NCR, revealing that such cases are often covered up or dismissed as accidents, with contractors denying formal employment relationships to avoid liability and caste biases and systematic apathy and exploitation.
Further during the workshop, Hemlata Kansotia, National Convenor, NCDRSAW, underscored the long-term and invisible toll that sanitation work takes on the bodies and lives of workers, including health-related complications due to prolonged exposure to harmful gases which mostly remain undocumented and rarely make it into official records, while pressing upon how there is a dangerous legal and policy gap when it comes to addressing these prolonged occupational health issues. She also noted that urban bias in public discourse contributes to the invisibilisation of manual scavenger deaths and injuries in smaller towns and rural areas.
Mohsina Akhter, National Coordinator of DASAM and a key contributor to the compiled report, highlighted the systemic failures of enforcement agencies and local administrations, saying, “Systemic neglect by both municipal bodies and police officials lies at the heart of the problem, and many cases never lead to FIRs; others remain ‘under investigation’ for months. Contractors routinely deny formal employment ties, stalling legal action and compensation. The apathy is institutional.”
She stressed that the continued deaths and injuries of manual scavengers are not isolated accidents but symptoms of a deeply casteist and exploitative system.
Dharmendra Bhati, President of the Municipal Workers Lal Jhanda Union, emphasised the need for systemic change within public utility bodies, stating, “Contractual sewer workers need to be included in the payroll in the Delhi Jal Board, and without formal inclusion, workers remain vulnerable to exploitation and the unsafe nature of the work,” he highlighted.
Dr Sunil Ram, a social activist, criticised the prevailing approach to sanitation worker deaths, calling it reactionary. “In India, the compensation following the death of a manual scavenger is talked about, but nobody talks about how to prevent such deaths in the first place, highlighting the lack of prioritisation of these workers in policy making.”
He further said the problem persists due to no equipment, funds or priority given to these workers and their jobs, who are at the forefront and who did not shy away from keeping the cities clean. Yet the public ostracises them. The inherent solution lay in setting priorities and providing dignity, he emphasised.
The issue also carries profound socio-cultural and psychological dimensions. Dr Seema Mathur, a professor at the University of Delhi, observed that “Identity—especially caste and gender—plays a key role in how sanitation workers are treated. The lack of social security and physiological nuances of the nature of work make it difficult for both female and male workers to manage their daily lives.”
She also highlighted the often-overlooked psychological toll of hazardous and stigmatised work.
The workshop featured moving first-hand testimonies by sewer workers, many of whom described unsafe work conditions, lack of safety gear, persistent wage delays and low wages, mistreatment and lack of recognition. The panellists from legal, academic, research, journalistic, civil society and union backgrounds discussed the multi-layered nature of this exploitation and stressed the need for structural solutions.
A distinguished panel of professionals with deep expertise in labour law, labour rights, grassroots mobilisation, and caste equity lead the discussions. The panel included:
- Virendra Gaur, President, CITU, Delhi-NCR
- Hemlata Kansotia, National Convenor, NCDRSAW
- Ved Prakash, President, Delhi Jal Board Sewer Department Mazdoor Sangathan
- Dr Sunilam, Social Activist
- Dharmendra Bhati, President, Municipal Workers Lal Jhanda Union (CITU)
- Vijay Kumar Balguher, Vice President, Akhil Bhartiya Shramik Sangh (Delhi Pradesh)
- Ajay Hiteshi, Social Activist, Ghaziabad
- Azad Singh Dedha, President, All DJB Employees Welfare Association
- Dr Seema Mathur, Professor, University of Delhi
- Mohsina Akhter, National Coordinator, Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch
- Varsha Prakash, Journalist
The workshop concluded with the adoption of a Charter of Demands, which includes:
- Immediate registration of FIRs under applicable legal provisions—including the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act
- Minimum compensation of ₹30 lakh to the families of deceased workers
- Time-bound judicial enquiries into every fatality
- Permanent employment status for all sewer workers under municipal bodies
- A national audit of sanitation practices in urban and rural India
- Enforcement of strict occupational health and safety protocols, including the provision of adequate PPE and safety training
The workshop marked a critical step toward breaking the silence around the plight of sewer workers and called on the government, municipalities, and civil society to join hands in implementing systemic reforms that ensure the dignity, safety, and justice these essential workers deserve.
Issued by: DASAM
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