You may regularly come across sewer workers in your city who enter the manhole to clean the sewage and ensure proper working of the drainage system. But, according to the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, humans are banned from being appointed as manual scavengers.
According to the data collected by the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK), at least 50 workers have died cleaning sewers in the first six months of 2019. The figures include information from only eight states in the country namely, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
In order to curb the grave injustice done to the sewage workers, the Haryana government has come up with a solution. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on August 15, announced an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh for sewer workers associated with government agencies in the state.
“The government will pay for the policy, and in case of an accident resulting in loss of life, the amount will be paid to the family of the sanitation worker,” CM Khattar said.
सफाई कर्मचारियों की सुविधा का हम ध्यान रख रहे है, हमने घोषणा की है कि सफाई कर्मचारी या सीवरेज का काम करने वाला कोई कर्मचारी उसकी काम करते हुए दुर्भाग्यवश मृत्यु हो जाती है तो उसको 10 लाख का बीमा मिलेगा और सरकार उसका प्रीमियम भरेगी।
— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) August 15, 2019
“The scheme is only applicable to sewer workers working under or associated with the government. It will not apply to those employed by private agencies,” Khattar added.
सफाई का व्यवसाय हम प्राचीन काल से करते आ रहे हैं। एक समय था कि सफाई का काम पैतृक तरीके से पुरानी पद्धति से चलता था, जैसे-जैसे समय बदलता गया देश-दुनिया में आज नई-नई तकनीक आ गई है। pic.twitter.com/rpHeGpdRbT
— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) August 15, 2019
The step taken by the Haryana government is certainly a good one. We hope other states too take inspiration from them and make strict rules to ensure the safety of sewer workers.
Kudos to the Haryana government!