CM to conduct meeting to stop manual scavenging on Monday
NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will on Monday head the meeting of the monitoring committee for the manual scavenging where the members will discuss the sensitization of the private entities against the use of manual scavenging. This would be the first high-level meeting headed by the CM after the death of nearly 11 manual scavengers in Delhi.
"The CM has called the meeting where we will review all the rules and laws for the manual scavengers. We will strengthen the laws for the private companies who are hiring these manual scavengers without giving any protection," said a source in Delhi government.
Social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam said, "We have taken a lot of measures. The panel will look at various aspects like identifying manual scavengers and coordinating with government agencies for effective implementation of the Act." The committee was constituted as per the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 –to review measures taken to stop manual scavenging in the city. This comes days after six workers died while cleaning sewers in two separate incidents.
Earlier on Tuesday, Delhi's Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the kin of the manual scavenger who died while cleaning a sewer pit in Delhi's Dabri on September 14. Gautam visited the family of the deceased here. He said that the Delhi government will ensure that no more deaths take place due to manual scavenging.
"This is a very unfortunate incident and we will ensure that a compensation of 10 lakh rupees is provided to the deceased's family at the earliest. The government has completely banned manual scavenging and it is prohibited to get inside any sewer or septic tank. The Delhi Jal Board has placed huge hoardings and given large advertisements in newspapers to create awareness in this regard," he said.
"If there is a problem in a septic tank, PWD or Jal Board must be contacted. If any contractor deploys someone then they must ensure all safety measures. People have been sensitized that if someone forcefully deploys a worker into such condition and a fatal accident happens, then a case under IPC's Section 304 would be registered against the contractor, he added. Elaborating further on the steps being taken by the government to put an end to the practice of manual scavenging, the minister also accepted that it is becoming a challenge to stop such incidents.
