The Bombay High Court bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice V G Bisht on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government when the practice of "manual scavenging" will end in the state. (File) The Bombay High Court bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice V G Bisht on Wednesday asked the Maharashtra government when the practice of “manual scavenging” will end in the state.
It also asked all civic bodies to adopt mechanised scavenging practices. The court directed the state to file an affidavit in reply to a plea filed by the daughter-in-law of a safai karmachari (sweeper), who had died on duty in August, 2013.
The woman, through advocate Ashok Tajane, claimed that Malshiras Municipal Council in Solapur district has failed to implement recommendations of the Lad-Page committee – set up by the government to create posts for the legal heirs of sanitation staffers – and has not appointed her as a “safai kamgar” after her father-in-law’s death.
Submitting a Lad-Page Committee report of 1974 before the HC, Additional Government Pleader Manish Pable said that the same had recommended eradication of manual scavenging and the state is taking steps for the same.
The court then wondered when will there be a “full stop” to manual scavenging in Maharashtra. “Why shouldn’t all municipal corporations across the state stop manual scavenging and switch to mechanised scavenging?” the bench said while posting next hearing after a month.
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