Times of India: Ahmedabad: Monday, April 28, 2014.
In the last decade, Gujarat has seen deaths of 98
manual scavengers. This fact was brought forth by the Safai Kamdar Vikas Nigam
in reply to an RTI query. Of these, families of 43 victims have not yet been
paid compensation.
Ahmedabad has witnessed 18 deaths because of
manual scavenging - the highest in the state. "For long, manual scavenging
has been discouraged but deaths have taken place across municipal corporations
and other civic bodies. The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of
Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 prohibits engagement of persons for
manually carrying human excreta," says Kirit Rathod, a member of dalit
activists group Navsarjan.
Rathod claims that there are around 50,000
official safai kamdars in the state who clean gutters but the state government
has failed to uplift them through the Safai Kamdar Nigam.
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