Around 45 Per Cent Of Manual Scavenger Deaths In India Are Reported In Tamil Nadu

At least 45 per cent of manual scavengers, who have died in the country since 1993, were from Tamil Nadu, Times of India has reported, citing data submitted by the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri in the Rajya Sabha.

According to the ministry, at least 144 out of 323 recorded deaths of manual scavengers were reported in Tamil Nadu. In comparison, the number of deaths reported in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka stood at 52 and 59 respectively.

However, according to data collected by Safai Karamchari Andolan, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO) which claims to work for the upliftment of manual scavengers across the country, at least 1,340 people have lost their lives while working in sewers and septic tanks. Out of these, the NGO says, 294 (around 22 per cent) deaths were reported in Tamil Nadu.

"The names of the workers who died in septic tanks and sewers in the past two years were not on the list of manual scavengers submitted by the state government to the Supreme Court,” said D V Samuel, state convener of Safai Karamchari Andolan.

While the state government says only 426 workers were engaged in manual scavenging, a survey conducted by the NGO in just eight cities in the state found that there were nearly 3,000 such workers.

"In Coimbatore corporation, which claims to have not a single manual scavenger, we identified 700 workers engaged in the act," Samuel added.

Responding to the NGO’s claim, municipal administration commissioner G Prakash pointed to the different definitions of the practice as the reason behind the vast difference in data collected by the government and Safai Karamchari Andolan.

"The definition of manual scavenger is different according to the government and the NGOs. If we classify workers employed in septic tank cleaning lorries as manual scavengers, then the numbers will be higher," Prakash said. "Misinterpretation of definition will cause a huge difference. If there are discrepancies, people employed as manual scavengers can always come forward and we will verify," he added.