A CRITICAL LEGAL ANALYSIS OF MANUAL SCAVENGING AND SANITATION WORKER IN INDIA

ABSTRACT

Manual scavenging, defined as the practice of removing human excreta by hand from drains, latrines and sewers, continues to be a major cause of concern in terms of health, environmental and human rights in India. Although India's Constitution and laws prohibit the practice of manual scavenging and seek to provide for the rehabilitation of its practitioners, thousands of sanitation workers – particularly those from vulnerable and oppressed communities continue to perform this perilous and demeaning task. This article presents a critical analysis of the incidence of manual scavenging in India, the socio-economic circumstances, such as poverty and caste oppression and the lack of alternate employment, which perpetuate the existence of the practice, and reviews the legislative provisions regarding the prohibition of manual scavenging and the protection of sanitation workers. This work critically examines the divergence between the established law and social realities, such as the employment of workers by local bodies and private entrepreneurs to clean clogged drains, sewers and other sanitation system without adequate protection. This article uses constitutional provisions, legislations and judicial pronouncements to present an argument for the continuing presence of manual scavenging on the systemic failure of its execution and social equity, and proposes solutions based on enforcement and rehabilitation of the manual scavengers, modernization and a right-centric approach for the protection of the well-being of the manual scavengers.

Keywords: Manual Scavenging, Sanitation Workers, Caste Discrimination, Human Dignity, Rehabilitation, Occupational Safety, Dalit Rights, Human Rights, Labour Rights, India.

INTRODUCTION

Adequate sanitation, together with good hygiene and safe water are fundamental to good health and to social and economic development. That is why, in 2008, the Prime Minister of India quoted that once Mahatma Gandhi said in 1923, ‘‘sanitation is more important than

independence” 1 . Our atmospheres of living are a matter of view of controlling of large part of the preventable ill health. Sanitary workers have played an important role in improving the urban and semi-urban ecological environment and the urban modern civilization, meeting the needs of people’s desires for physical, spiritual, political, ecological civilization and implementing the social sustainable development. Sanitation workers provide an essential public service but often at the cost of their dignity, safety, health and their own living conditions. They are some of the most vulnerable workers. They are far too often invisible, unquantified, outcast and many of the challenges they face stem from this fundamental lack of acknowledgment. Sanitation workers are exposed to serious occupational and environmental health hazards risking illness, injury, and death.

The term Sanitation Workers refers to all people weather employed or otherwise, responsible for cleaning, maintaining, operating, or emptying a sanitation technology at any step of the sanitation chain. Whereas Section 2(1)(g) of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, (MS Act 2013), the definition of manual scavenger is as follows: -

“Manual Scavenger” means a person engaged or employed by an individual or a local authority or a public or private agency, for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit into which the human excreta from insanitary latrines is disposed of, or on a railway track or in such other spaces or premises, as the Central Government or a State Government may notify, before the excreta fully decomposes in such manner as may be prescribed, and the expression “manual scavenging” shall be construed accordingly.

Similarly, Section 2(d) defines ‘hazardous cleaning’ as the manual cleaning of “sewer and septic tank … without the employer fulfilling his obligations to provide protective gear and other cleaning devices and ensuring observance of safety precautions”. Hence, it permits manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks if the worker is equipped with protective gear andfollows safety precautions. Despite the indispensable nature of this labour, these workers often face unsafe working conditions, minimal protection, and inadequate remuneration.

Their work is undervalued, and the risks they encounter are frequently minimised or ignored by institutions meant to safeguard them. All manual scavengers in India belong to Dalit communities, with those hailing from the most marginalized sub-castes bearing the brunt of the indignity and danger associated with this work.

Union government claims that manual scavenging is not a caste-based occupation, but the data show that One of the components of NAMASTE scheme is the profiling of sewer entry professionals/septic tank workers. In its report published on September 29, The Hindu stated

that of the 38,000 workers profiled so far, 68.9% belong to the SC community, 14.7% to the OBC community, 8.3% to the ST community, 8% are from the general category. Put together, this indicates that 77.2% of the workers are from Dalit communities.

Two central laws have been introduced to address this issue. The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 initially sought to regulate the conditions of manual scavenging rather than ban it. However, due to weak enforcement and limited punitive provisions, it failed to make a significant impact. Subsequent persistent agitation led to the enactment of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, which prohibits the engagement of

workers in manual scavenging and mandates strict safety measures, rehabilitation, and compensation for affected families. Under this Act, if a worker dies while engaged in hazardous cleaning, even if safety gear is in place, the employer is obligated to pay Rs 10 lakh to the bereaved family.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND LIVED REALITY

Sanitation worker in India is governed by an expansive legal framework that promises dignity, protection, and upward mobility to its most marginalized labourers. The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 was the first law to have initiated the process of conversion of dry latrines to pour-flush latrines to discourage manual handling of human waste. The 1993 Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act followed. This Act prohibited employment of manual scavengers in cleaning dry latrines and building of new dry latrines. Implementation of this Act remained weak; in fact, the PIL filed

by Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA) in 2003 in the Supreme Court prompted the court to monitor legislative progress of states ratifying the 1993 Act. In 2007, the central government introduced the Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) in an attempt to

provide manual scavengers with trainings for alternative skills and loans. Learning from the lack of success of SRMS, a National Advisory Council recommended to the central government to enact a new law. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 provides a wider definition of manual scavengers to identify them and fixes accountability to punish offenders. Based on the new Act, the SRMS was modified to focus on self-employment and one-time cash assistance. Under the new SRMS, nearly 13,000 manual scavengers have received cash assistance. However, state agencies have been unable to identify more beneficiaries, leading to poor uptake of loans and skills training.

On paper, these frameworks create an impressive display of rights. But in reality, the workers jeopardise their lives just to get “starving wages”. The 1993 Act was followed by an array of policies and schemes like the Integrated Low Cost Sanitation programme (1980), Total Sanitation Campaign (1999), National River Conservation Programme (1995), National Urban Sanitation Policy (2008) and Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (2005). These schemes echoed the ideas of Gandhi, condemned manual scavenging and encouraged the protection, sensitisation and rehabilitation of communities linked to sanitation work.

Legal recognition is the first right denied. Despite being engaged full-time in hazardous sanitation work, many are not issued ID cards, ESI numbers, or any formal documentation by the municipal corporation. Section 2(l) of the ESI Act, which defines an ‘employee’,is often selectively interpreted by contractors to exclude sanitation workers, especially when accidents occur. Without such recognition, provisions relating to medical and sickness benefits become functionally meaningless for these workers.

In 2013, the Indian government introduced a new and stronger law called The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, commonly referred to as the MS Act, 2013. This Act replaced the earlier 1993 law, which had limited power because it

was enacted under the State List. The 2013 Act was passed under the Concurrent List, giving Parliament the authority to regulate employment conditions across the country. It not only had a wider scope but also included strict penalties for violations. It made it compulsory for

local bodies like municipalities, cantonment boards and the railways to build enough sanitary community toilets. It also introduced penalties for employing anyone to clean sewers and septic tanks manually, without safety gear or proper precautions.

The lived reality of sanitation workers in India represents a severe and ongoing breach of the Constitutional foundational promises, particularly the Right to Life and Personal Dignity under Article 21. While the Supreme Court has interpreted this article to mean the right to

live with human dignity, manual scavengers are often treated as sub-citizens, forced to enter lethal environments like septic tanks without basic protective gear. This dehumanization is fundamentally a manifestation of Untouchability, which Article 17 explicitly abolished. However, the sociocultural notion of “purity and pollution” remains deeply entrenched, as workers are viewed as permanently polluted by their caste based occupation, leading to social ostracization that persists even after the physical labor is done.

This systemic exploitation further violates the Right to Equality under Article 14 and the Prohibition of Discrimination under Article 15. In India, the state’s reliance on contractualization creates a discriminatory hierarchy where contract workers predominantly from lower castes receive starving wages and zero benefits compared to permanent staff performing the same hazardous duties. Furthermore, the lack of agency and the economic necessity that traps these communities in such degrading work, often framed by society as divine destiny amounts to a form of Forced Labour, which is strictly prohibited under Article

23.

The state also fails to uphold the Directive Principles of State Policy, such as Article 42, which mandates just and humane conditions of work. The reality for many female workers, who face double discrimination through the intersection of caste and gender, includes being denied the 26 weeks of paid leave promised by the Maternity Benefit Act. Ultimately, the persistence of manual scavenging reveals a cognitive dissonance between the legal display of rights on paper and a bureaucratic system that uses informal employment to render these citizens invisible, thereby turning constitutional protections into discretionary favors" rather

than inherent rights.

 Section 5 14 prohibits the engagement of individuals in insanitary latrines and mandates the provision of sanitary community latrines by local authorities. Which means this provision makes it illegal for any authority, contractor, or individual to employ a person to manually clean insanitary latrines. It also imposes a duty on municipal bodies and local authorities to replace insanitary latrines with sanitary ones and ensure access to safe sanitation facilities.

 Section 7 15 specifically bans the employment of individuals for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. Which means this section makes it illegal to allow workers to enter sewers or septic tanks without proper safety equipment such as gloves, masks, oxygen supply, and protective clothing. It places responsibility on employers, contractors, and local authorities to ensure safe working conditions and the use of modern equipment.

 Section 13 16 outlines the rehabilitation process for individuals identified as manual scavengers. This section requires the government to take concrete steps to support persons who were engaged in manual scavenging. Rehabilitation includes providing financial assistance, training for alternative employment, scholarships for children, housing support, and other welfare measures to help them shift to safer and dignified

livelihoods.

The Swachh Bharat Mission programme was launched on Mahatma’s Gandhi birth anniversary (2 October). Since 2014, this has been the flagship programme of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to address the crisis of sanitation in India. It aimed to revamp the streets, road and sanitation infrastructure of India’s cities and villages. It promised to eliminate open defecation through the construction of individual household and community toilets as well as establish an accountable system of monitoring toilet use. The Ministry’s statistics claim almost 1700 cities across India have been declared open defecation free with 100 per cent door-to-door waste collection in 51,734 wards.

Despite its good intentions, there is enormous scepticism about the success of SBM. There is a link missing in the sanitation chain. The SBM programme seeks to improve the sanitation worker. Bezwada Wilson, a Dalit rights activist, puts it succinctly when he says, “To clean the country, you have to address the problems of those who have spent a lifetime cleaning the country.” The people who actually make India clean, the sanitation workers, remain invisible

in the participation, process or consequences of this national level movement called SBM.

The National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC), set up in 1997 as a non-profit company under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, gives loan-based schemes (up to Rs 2.5 million) for sanitation workers.

Annually the Corporation give loans worth Rs. 1.5 to 1.7 billion to nearly 20,000 sanitation workers. Loans are channelised through banks and other state agencies. NSKFDC has links with training programmes of Sector Skill Councils of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to train sanitation workers seeking jobs other than sanitation work.

Despite PEMSRA’s Section 10, which provides for the identification of manual scavengers and a time-bound rehabilitation process, municipalities have either failed to conduct surveys or falsely reported zero manual scavengers in their jurisdictions. When asked about survey status in the local municipal office in Gaya, the Sanitation Officer with pride in the words applauded the Gaya City on being Manual Scavenging free. Yet, in the vicinity of the Corporation office on enquiry with the local residents we were able to find such scavangers,

who then described us their work and its dangers. This cognitive harmony between bureaucratic denial and embodied caste-based labour exposes how the law is often used to erase rather than acknowledging exploitation. Where courts have taken a strong stand,

implementation still lags. In Change India v. Government of Tamil Nadu ,the Madras High Court ordered the payment of delayed compensation with interest to the kin of a manualscavenger. In Court on its Own Motion, the Delhi High Court emphasized night sanitation workers’ vulnerabilities, ordering the strict enforcement of Solid Waste Management Rules. But the workers shared a completely different version.

The condition of sanitation workers in India exposes a profound failure of the state to translate legal guarantees into lived realities. Despite an extensive framework of laws, policies and judicial interventions aimed at abolishing manual scavenging and ensuring dignity, safety and rehabilitation, systemic gaps in implementation continue to perpetuate exploitation. Bureaucratic denial, contractualization, and caste-based discrimination have combined to render sanitation workers invisible within the very system meant to protect them. The persistence of hazardous working conditions, lack of legal recognition, and denial

of basic rights reveal that the issue is not the absence of law, but the absence of political will and administrative accountability. Unless the state actively dismantles caste-based occupational structures, ensures strict enforcement of existing laws and centres sanitation

workers in policy design and implementation, these constitutional promises will remain hollow, and the cycle of marginalization will continue unchecked.

STRUCTURAL INVISIBILITY: THE INTERSECTION OF CASTE BASED TABOO AND PATRIARCHAL NORMS IN MANUAL SCAVENGING

Manual scavenging is one of the worst surviving symbols of untouchability linked to India’s appalling caste system where so called lower castes’ have been sentenced historically to clean human waste, considered impure in Hinduism. The occupation of sanitation work is

intrinsically integrated with caste in India. This link earmarks sanitation as the sole concern of just one caste that is the Dalits. An even wider gap of injustice appears on disaggregating the Valmiki community by gender. Women sanitation workers (specifically lower caste women) in a country in which patriarchy still thrives, live and work under the double burden of labour.

A report published by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment on September 29 2024, which stated that of the 38,000 workers profiled so far, 68.9% belong to the SC community, 14.7% to the OBC community, 8.3% to the ST community, 8% are from the general category. Put together, this indicates that 77.2% of the workers are from Dalit communities. Sanitation is not an easy concept to understand. The dictionary meaning relates it to “conditions that affect hygiene and health”. The World Health Organisation refers to sanitation as: “the provision of facilities and services for safe disposal of human urine and faeces”. Generally, sanitation is understood as a system that promotes disposal of human and animal wastes, proper use of toilets and avoidance of open space defecation. It is often used as an all- encompassing term for a entire range of services/sanitation work. This ranges from work related to personal sanitation to public hygiene. Personal sanitation work consists of jobs suchas handling menstrual waste, cleaning household toilets, and managing household garbage (segregation). Public sanitation work involves garbage collection from households across a municipal area, dumping the city’s garbage in zonal dumping sites, sweeping of roads, cleaning drains, school, community and public toilets, sewer lines, sewage treatment plants, septic tanks, and cleaning faecal matter from railway tracks, platforms, train toilets and platform toilets, etc.

Louis Dumont’s theory of purity and pollution is helpful in understanding this structuralinjustice. In Homo Hierarchicus, 20 Dumont explained how caste operates through symbolic hierarchies, wherein purity is associated with ritual cleanliness and pollution with bodily

waste. The manual scavenger, belong to those castes which are allotted the work of cleaningand therefore are viewed as permanently polluted regardless of their social situation. This symbolic pollution becomes real when society begins to treat them as impure in every setting in schools, hospitals, public offices, and even in voting booths therefore setting open a vicious cycle of abuse, exploitation and discrimination.

Manual scavenging is not merely hazardous physical labour but it is a brutal assault on the mind and dignity of those forced into it. The work is dangerous, dehumanising, and historically forced upon one community. Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 aims to eliminate the historical injustice and degrading treatment faced by manual scavengers, officially prohibiting the practice and prioritizing their rehabilitation to ensure a life of dignity.

Through the Gender Lens

Manual scavenging, which involves the picking up of human excreta by hand, is one of the most prevalent forms of caste discrimination in India. Along with caste, another system that plagues India is that of patriarchy. Naturally, people who are caught between the intersection of both these systems, such as Dalit women, experience dual discrimination. While caste is the main factor that acts against manual scavengers who are men, women doing this work face double discrimination not only on the basis of caste but also patriarchy. Reports by various entities and Non-Governmental Organisations suggest that 99% of Manual Scavengers in India are Dalits, and among these, a shocking 95% are women. The existing law on manual scavenging and the scheme accompanying it also fail to account for the particularities these Dalit women experience.

Female manual scavenger found that they are even getting the bare minimum of dignified life, no any alternate jobs and rehabilitation, no proper health equipment, lack of employee insurance, no manual scavenger identity card neither any maternity benefit that the government is claiming through their official data tabled in parliament. Her dominant identity as a woman moulds the life of a woman sanitation worker. Each of the 24 hours of a day is spent balancing the strenuous chores at home, being a caregiver to her family and doing a job. It leaves very little time for self-care. Many aspects of their life and job carries a gendered connotation, even though they did confirm that men and women workers were treated equally; if their work was not up to the mark, they would be hauled up just like a male worker was. Women are assigned jobs mostly as sweepers and collectors of garbage from households. This restricts their upward mobility despite long years of employment. Supervisors (or havaldars), sanitation inspectors and circle inspectors were all men. Women interviewed in gaya confirmed they had never seen a woman supervisor.

Segregation of job by sex is historically situated in the patriarchal system in which men control the labour of women and children in the family and institutions. Capitalist economies segregate the labour market, keeping women’s wages low, making them dependent on men. Women are expected to manage household work. They are allowed to work outside the home on the precondition that her household responsibilities remain unaffected. Men dominate institutions such as municipalities, state led policies as well as the dynamics within the family.

INTERNATIONAL SAFEGUARDS ON MANUAL SCAVENGING

The practice of manual scavenging, which includes cleaning sewers and septic tanks, is seen as a major violation of human dignity across the world. International law says that every human being is born free and should be treated with respect. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) clearly mentions that no one should be treated in an inhuman or degrading way. For sewerage workers and sweepers, this means they should not be forced to do work that puts their life at risk or treats them as “untouchables.” The International Labour Organization (ILO) has made several rules to protect workers from dangerous jobs. Convention No. 111 of the ILO talks about stopping discrimination in jobs based on caste or social origin, which is very common in manual scavenging. Another important rule is Convention No. 29 of the ILO, which says that no person should be forced to do work against their will, especially work that is hazardous. For septic tank cleaners, international standards require that the government must provide machines and safety gear so that workers do not have to enter deep pits filled with poisonous gases.

International groups like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank have reported that sanitation workers face extreme health risks. They often breathe in dangerous gases like ammonia and carbon monoxide, which can cause sudden death. The United Nations Special Rapporteur has stated that clean water and sanitation are human rights, but the people who provide these services the sanitation workers must also have their rights protected. This means they should have proper medical check-ups, insurance, and a safe environment to work. The United Nations has set “Sustainable Development Goals” to be reached by 2030 27 . Goal 6 is about clean water and sanitation for all, but it also includes the safety of those who clean the waste. Goal 8 focuses on “Decent Work” which means that jobs like sewerage cleaning should be modernized with technology so that no human has to touch waste with their hands.

POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

In light of the complete and persistent disconnect between legal protections afforded under statutes and the lived realities of sanitation workers in India, the following recommendations aim to ensure dignity, safety, and fairness in their work.

 The widespread employment of sanitation workers on a contractual basis must be abolished. Until then, special schemes must provide them with insurance, provident fund benefits, and regulated wage scales. Contractors must be mandated to ensure minimum wages, safety gear, fair hours, paid leave, maternity benefits, and healthcare. Noncompliance should lead to strict penalties, and efforts must be made to bridge the gap between permanent and contractual workers performing the same

duties.

 Sanitation workers employed during crises face extreme health risks. A dedicated policy under the National Disaster Management framework should ensure decent housing, nutritious food, risk-adjusted wages, insurance, medical support, and proper protective gear. Transport from lodging to worksite should be mandatory.

 Despite legal bans, manual scavenging continues. Immediate mechanisation of sewer systems, particularly in rural areas, must be pursued. Special courts for compensation and rehabilitation, strict penalties for private violators, and regular inspections by municipal authorities are needed. The 2013 Act must be enforced rigorously, and

mass awareness campaigns should combat caste- and gender-based stigma associated with sanitation work. A survey should be conducted in order to get to know the real statistics so that reforms could be efficiently brought out.

 Independent trade unions must be promoted and recognized to advocate for workers’ rights fair wages, working hours, leaves, maternity benefits, and safety measures. These unions must operate democratically and run regular awareness drives to inform workers about their entitlements and legal remedies.

 A comprehensive policy framework should ensure occupational disease insurance,standard wages, adequate safety and protective equipment, and access to mechanised tools. Fair wages must extend to all categories of workers. Medical insurance or partial support for treatment of work-related injuries should be a basic entitlement.

Sanitation workplaces must also provide first aid kits, clean water, restrooms, changing rooms, and functional grievance redress mechanisms.

CONCLUSION

With the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in full swing, a focus on sanitation workers is also given but most of it seem merely on papers without ever becoming a part of the lived reality of the workers. Their pay scale is low, work is insecure and they face constant discrimination from

the society, they do not receive sick leaves, receives payments after months as a series of unfathomable struggle. The laws seldom reach the downtrodden, poor, uneducated andunaware sanitation workers, therefore it becomes an imperative upon the State to not only to have a law in place, but also to make it accessible to everyone by targeted schemes and programmes.

Laws alone cannot change the material reality, collective efforts have to be taken to end the caste based exploitation of labour, the workers have an indelible stigma attached to them as they belong to the caste which does the scavenging work. The basic fundamental right to live with dignity is to be ensured to them and the efforts and struggle should not stop until that has been done. As already noted, the Commissions and Union play an imperative role in putting forth their stands to achieve better working conditions for the workers.

The reality about the life of sanitation workers is not just about unsafe working and living conditions, irregular and minimum wages, and their health conditions and exploitation by their contractors. The reality is deep down more about the caste system and acceptance by the

society that one group of people is best fit to clean their excreta, and that the service which is essential to them – people providing service remain completely nonessential. The reality is as concurrent, as historically social and cultural. And the solution also has to be found both ways.

SKA Convenor Bezwada Wilson points out, “Swachh Bharat represents toilet users, not toilet cleaners”. Until we respect and ensure dignity to all manual scavengers, making sure that no one needs to do such work again and that those who have been forced to undertake such work are provided gainful employment in decent conditions, a scheme like this will remain a sham.

Sanitation workers have historically faced caste and class ostracisation, marginalisation in the politico-legal sphere, financial insecurity and economic exploitation, physical and mental health hazards at workplace, gender-based discrimination, unrelenting, uncompromising nature of the employers and the like. Emancipatory efforts in the form of legislation, policies and official frameworks have been counter productive- manual scavenging, though prohibited by law, persists and rehabilitation measures are unheard of. The law is exclusionary and the employers make use of such loopholes that persist are escape clauses that legitimise poor working conditions, lack of provision of protective equipment and caste discrimination.

Louis Dumont’s theory of purity and pollution is not just metaphorical but lived. The sanitation worker’s touch, presence, and even their tools are deemed polluted, they face overbearing discrimination in society. This inherited caste-based valuation continues to mark their labour as both essential and degraded. Adding to this is what Judith Butler terms precarious lives, lives whose loss would not be mourned. The sanitation worker’s vulnerability is not accidental; it is produced and maintained through structures that normalize caste, class, and gendered violence. Their condition is not simply one of poverty, but of systemic invisibilisation, which makes their exploitation appear natural and necessary. Hundreds of lives have been lost as a result of inhaling toxic fumes during manual scavenging, all these lives are mere statistics with no one to mourn their death for.

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11. Id. art. 17.

12. Id. art. 15.

13. Id. art. 23.

14. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, Act No. 25 of 2013, Acts of Parliament, 2013 (India).

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16. Ibid.

17. Change India v. Government of Tamil Nadu, W.P. No. 10640 of 2018 (Madras HC).

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19. Supra note 9 at 1.

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22. Ibid.

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24. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, art. 1.

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26. LO Convention No. 29, Forced Labour Convention, 1930.

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