Amidst persistent incidents of manual scavenging deaths in the state, the Madras High Court, on March 16, opined, “It is high-time that the heads of Corporations and Municipalities are held personally liable for any death to anyone engaged in manual scavenging within their territories”. The bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and comprising Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy also commented that even if direct employment of manual scavengers was stopped, they were still being engaged by contractors and the Municipalities are privy to this.

The court expressed its displeasure over lack of response from the state where the court had asked for information from all the Districts, including the Municipalities and Municipal Corporations, pertaining to manual scavenging work undertaken in the Municipalities and the Corporations. The court observed that the petition has been pending since 2017, and during each hearing, the court stressed upon the immediate need to stop the inhuman practice, which amounts to exploitation of a particular class which has suffered for generations.

The court further pointed to the 6 deaths occurred this year and observed, “While Municipalities and Corporations may have stopped directly engaging manual scavenging work, it appears that the contractors are engaged for the purpose and Corporation and Municipal officials look other way, while manual scavengers are still sent down the pits to carry filth on their heads as they come up”.

The court took note of the unfortunate ways in which the manual scavengers die while doing such work, and also remarked upon their economic and social situation that forces them into such jobs.

In a bid to assign accountability, the court stated, “It is high-time that the heads of Corporations and Municipalities are held personally liable for any death to anyone engaged in manual scavenging within their territories. It must be made clear by the appropriate department of the State to all heads of Municipal Corporations and Municipalities in the State that any manual scavenging death within the jurisdiction of the relevant Municipality or Corporation will result in the Commissioner or Chairperson or the like controlling authority of the relevant body to face criminal charges and be subjected to immediate arrest.”

The court has sought an affidavit from the Secretary in the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department of the State, stating measures taken towards order passed by the court and steps taken to ensure that the practice of manual scavenging is stopped at ground level. When brought to its notice that in many such cases, the victim’s families were still awaiting compensation, the court directed that the compensation be paid immediately and a compliance report be filed at the next hearing date, April 6.

On March 1, Karnataka High Court had also taken serious note of manual scavenging in the state and expressed its grief over the deaths of two manhole workers, and another incident of a sweeper dying by suicide after being allegedly forced into manual scavenging without proper safety gear.

The complete order may be read here:

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