PROHIBITION OF MANUAL SCAVENGERS IN INDIA -A CRITICAL STUDY

Introduction
Manual scavenging is not a career chosen voluntarily by workers, but is instead a deeply
unhealthy, unsavoury and undignified job forced upon these people because of the stigma attached
to their caste. The nature of the work itself then reinforces that stigma.1 Within the caste structure,
Dalits who work as manual scavengers are usually from the Hindu Valmiki sub-caste, which is further
subdivided into regionally named groups such as Chuhada, Rokhi, Mehatar, Malkana, Halalkhor,
and Lalbegi, or the Muslim Hela sub caste.2 Prohibitation of manual scavengers to relieve them
from inhuman, unhealthy and hateful practice of carrying human waste is a need of today. Indian
Constitution provides various fundamental rights one of it is right to live with human dignity. But
from adoption of constitution of India most violation of this right of manual scavengers happing that
is removing of human waste by human being.The dehumanizing practice of manual scavenging is
closely interlinked with untouchability so to protect manual scavengers the prohibition of employment
as manual scavengers and their rehabilitation act, 2013 was enacted.Manual scavenging is rooted
in caste and with very few exception, all the manual scavengers are from the Scheduled Castes.
Manual scavenging is thus a caste based occupation, with a large majority of them being women The
continuance of manual scavenging constitutes a gross violation of human rights and the worth of the
human person and flies in the face of the Constitutional guarantee assured, in its very Preamble, of a
life with dignity for every individual in the country.According to Government of India statistics, the
states chosen have had the highest number of people engaged in manual scavenging3 Communities
engaged as manual scavengers have distinct communal or caste names in various parts of the country.4
The government identifies those that belong to the most marginalized, so-called untouchable
castes as Scheduled Castes, eligible for quotas in education and employment. Rights activists from
the community refer to themselves as Dalits, literally “broken people.” However, many from manual
scavenging communities also call themselves Harijan, a term used by Mohandas Gandhi to describe
them as people of God.
Preamble to the Constitution contain that promoting among the citizens fraternity assuring the
dignity of the individuals enshrined as one of the goal of government to be achieved and protected.