Justice for Those Who Clean the Nation

On 28th December, 2024, Saturday, more than hundreds of manual scavengers engaged in sewers and septic tank workers, and several families of the victims who had died in the line of duty on the practice of manual scavengers gathered for the public hearing conducted by the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch along with various organisations and unions at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi. The public hearing was attended by various prominent activists from civil rights bodies, academicians, and advocates.

Despite being outlawed, the practice of manual scavenging continues to claim the lives of sewer workers across India. The purpose of the public hearing was to provide a platform to hear the plight of families of the victims who lost their lives while cleaning the sewer and septic tanks and those who are still engaged in the obnoxious occupation and how the system responds to their issues. The victims’ families, experts, and advocates came together and demanded systemic reforms and better enforcement of law.

In the beginning, one of the workers highlighted the grim reality faced by sewer and septic tank workers, noting the high number of fatalities in the sector and the low conviction rates for negligence cases. Referring to the judgement of the Supreme Court that mandated ₹30 lakhs for fatalities and ₹20 lakhs for permanent disabilities, the workers demanded the judgement must be implemented. Another worker pointed out glaring lapses in the implementation of law and policy. Similarly, one of the workers explained the importance of public hearings as a tool to amplify the voices of manual scavengers and urged collective action to eliminate the stigma surrounding the occupation.

The DJB sewer workers shared their struggle against contractualization and their efforts to unionise, which led to the filing of a petition in the Delhi High Court and the reinstatement of some workers. They shared how the removal from their job took away bread from their plates, and the level of precarity seemed like another COVID wave. Their entire one year was full of struggle to demand justice.

Several families of sewer workers shared their grief and systemic failure faced in the process of seeking justice, such as being asked for multiple documents for receiving even the interim compensation. In 2018, Soni lost her husband, along with four fellow workers, who were the sole breadwinners of the families. In spite of being daily wage labourers, not manual scavengers, they were forced to enter the sewer. This led to the death of three workers, but her husband survived. Over the years, Soni’s husband’s health failed as he contracted different ailments related to inhaling the toxic gases; ultimately, he succumbed in 2024. She received no compensation. Jai Narayan, brother of a victim, highlighted how two workers, including his brother, Ajay, lost their lives while cleaning a septic tank at a private residence in Old Jasola Village, Sarita Vihar, in May 2024. The family has not received compensation so far and has faced bureaucratic hurdles in accessing justice. While Brijpal’s 19-year-old son, employed as a housekeeping employee, was coerced into cleaning a septic tank without any safety measures, resulting in his death. Rajo Ji lost two of her sons while cleaning a septic tank. Rajo Ji said, I have been left with nothing, and I am shattered because of the sudden death of my sons.

The jury members of the public hearing were:
Adv. Harnam Singh, Former Chairman of the Delhi Commission for Safai Karamcharis and ex-chairman of the Monitoring Committee, Delhi High Court
Vinod Kumar, Professor of Law and Director, Centre for Human Rights and Subaltern Studies at NLU Delhi
Shweta Tripathi, Executive Director, SRUTI (Society for Rural, Urban, and Tribal Initiatives)
Adv. Naresh Bansal, Delhi High Court
Hemlata Kansotia, National Campaign for Dignity and Rights of Sewerage and Allied Workers

Meanwhile, at the end of the public hearing, the jury members presented their recommendations and observations.  Below are the recommendations:

1. Principal employer liability fixed—JE and AE, etc., must be criminalised. The nodal officer (DM, Commissioner, or Collector) must be penalised. Liability should be assured of that in whose premises the incident takes place, and the concerned authority should take the cases seriously.
2. In injury cases, the job should be provided, and mandated compensation of 20 lakhs should be given to the victim on an interim basis.
3. FIR should be taken as proof of death under all such cases, and there should be no need for a certificate.
4. Interim compensation in the form of immediate ex gratia should be provided within 15 days, and final compensation should be given within 6 months by fast-track courts.
5. A Standing Monitoring Committee under the Supreme Court must be constituted with more than 50% representation of SC/ST and minority groups, and adequate infrastructure must be provided for its continued functioning. NSKFDC should also be made representative in the same way.
6. Mechanisation of sewer cleaning must be done in a time-bound manner by the Delhi government. Blacklisted companies should not be allowed to work for five years, and law should be enforced against them. Machines should be given to the families who have lost their members in the line of duty.
7. Labour contracts must be given in writing properly, and making it easier to track the worker, equipment, and training should be included within the contract.
8. Only trained workers should be allowed to work, not the ones who don’t have any training.
9. Fast-track court and streamlining of the cases to be done quickly, and there should be immediate accountability, and compensation should be provided within a time frame.
10. In fast-track courts, the culprits should be penalized within 6 months.

11. Ex-gratia payment should be given, and the child’s education of the victim should be ensured through pre-matric scholarship, and there should be collaboration by NSKFDC with schools to provide education for the children of manual scavengers. The FD should be fixed for children till 18 years.
12. The compensation should be linked with existing government schemes.
13. The current law of manual scavenging and the Supreme Court’s order should be amended, and there should be full-swing implementation of the laws and provisions. 30 lakhs compensation law should be amended and should be treated as a government employee.
14. The death cases should be taken as criminal offences, and liability and accountability should be a must.
15. The contractual sewer workers should be permanent and on payroll and taken as essential work.
16. There should be minimum wages as per the law.
17. The contractual sewer workers should be considered as skilled labour, not unskilled, as they perform hazardous and dangerous jobs.
18. There should be a survey by the district magistrate against DICCI companies, and the existing families involved in sewer and septic tank work should be turned into a cooperative, and they should be empowered, and machinery should be provided.

Organised by: Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) | Delhi Jal Board Sewer Department Mazdoor Sangathan | Nagar Nikay Karamchari Sangh (Uttar Pradesh) | All DJB Employees Welfare Association | Jal Mal Kaamgaar Sangharsh Morcha | Municipal Workers Lal Jhanda Union (CITU) | Delhi Jal Board Karamchari Union | Institute for Democracy and Sustainability (IDS) | People’s Resource Centre (PRC) | Sewerage and Allied Workers Forum (SSKM) | Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre (PMARC) | Magadh Foundation | Indian Sanitation Studies Collective (ISSC)

For more details, please contact +91 8491052270 or +91 7065721374.