Today, while hearing a PIL on implementation of Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, the Supreme Court asked the Centre, why the states have not taken action on implementation of the Act.

The said matter was heard before the division Bench of Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice Aravind Kumar

Today, during the hearing, Amicus Curiae appointed by the Court Adv. K Parameshwar pointed out that only 5 states have so far constituted a state level survey committee as required under the Act.

These states include Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Further, Amicus Curiae mentioned that Safai Karamchari Commission has repeatedly pointed out that vigilance committees at different levels have not been constituted as per the Act.

“Why are the states not taking action? Think of a mechanism where the states can report to the Union. We can mandate the committees to be constituted within 2 months and each of them will report to the Ministry of Social Justice. We can also mandate that they meet atleast once a month.”

To this, the ASG Aishwarya Bhati responded that a draft will be submitted before the Court with suggestions of directions to be issued to states. The Amicus Curiae suggested that the central monitoring committee be empowered to coordinate between states