The Supreme Court has issued a set of 14 directives instructing both the central and state governments to take necessary actions, develop policies, and provide guidelines to gradually eliminate manual sewer cleaning in India. These directives come as a response to the dire situation of a substantial portion of India's population engaged in manual scavenging, who have remained voiceless and trapped in inhumane conditions.

The Apex Court has requested the central government to provide instructions and guidelines, ensuring that any sewer cleaning tasks, whether outsourced or assigned through contractors or agencies, do not necessitate individuals entering sewers for any reason whatsoever.

In a series of directives, a bench comprising Justices S. Ravindra Bhat (now retired) and Aravind Kumar has mandated that both the central and state governments provide a compensation of Rs 30 lakh to the immediate family members of individuals who lose their lives while engaged in sewer cleaning.

The Court has also instructed all states and Union territories to ensure that all government departments, agencies, and corporations incorporate the guidelines and directives established by the central government into their own respective guidelines and directives.

The Supreme Court has directed the central government, state governments, and Union territories to ensure comprehensive rehabilitation measures, which include providing employment opportunities for the next of kin, education for the children, and skill training for individuals engaged in sewage work and the families of those who lose their lives in this occupation. It also stated that in the case of sewer victims suffering from any disability, the minimum compensation shall not be less than Rs 10 lakh and further specified that if the disability is permanent and leaves the victim economically disadvantaged, the compensation should not be less than Rs 20 lakh.

The relevant government bodies, including the Union, states, or Union territories, are directed to establish an effective mechanism to ensure accountability, particularly in cases where sewer-related deaths occur during contracted or outsourced work. This accountability mechanism should include the immediate termination of the contract and the imposition of financial penalties with the aim of discouraging such practices.

The Union government is instructed to create a model contract that should be applied whenever contracts are to be granted by the Union government or its affiliated agencies and corporations, as specified in relevant laws such as the Contract Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1970, or any other applicable legislation. These contracts must strictly adhere to the standards outlined in accordance with the Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, and its associated rules. In the event of any mishap or non-compliance, the contracting agency could face contract termination and potential blacklisting.

The National Commission for Safai Karamchari (NCSK), National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), and the Secretary of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment have been directed to collaboratively develop the procedures and plans for conducting a national survey within three months. Ideally, this survey should be completed within the next year, as mandated by the court.

To prevent the national survey from encountering the same issues as previous surveys, suitable models should be established to educate and train all relevant committees. The Union government, state governments, and Union territories are obligated to establish scholarships to guarantee that the dependents of sewer workers who have either lost their lives or suffered from disabilities receive a meaningful education, as clarified by the directive.

The court has directed that the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) should also be included in the consultations for the formulation of the aforementioned policies.

The NCSK, NCSC, NCST, and the Union government are mandated to collaborate and create training and education modules for the information and use of district and state-level agencies under the provisions of the 2013 Act, as stipulated by the bench. It further added that, the directive includes the development and timely launch of a portal and a dashboard that will encompass all pertinent information, including data regarding sewer-related fatalities and victims, the status of compensation disbursement, the rehabilitation measures implemented, and the current rehabilitation policies that are in place or accessible.

The Supreme Court's judgment was delivered in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that requested the Court to issue directives to both the central and state governments for the effective implementation of various provisions, including those found in the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, and the Act of 2013, aimed at addressing the issue of manual scavenging and ensuring its prohibition.

Case:  Dr.Balram Singh vs Union of India, Writ Petition(Civil) No. 324/2020.

Read/Download Judgement: SC issues directives against Manual Scavenging