Despite having legislation in place to address the issue, manual scavenging deaths are a common occurrence in India.
Published Aug 12, 2024 | 12:11 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 12, 2024 | 12:11 AM
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A man working as a manual scavenger in Chennai’s Avadi died on Sunday, 11 August after inhaling poisonous gas.
25-year-old Gopinath was working on fixing a blockage in an underground drainage in Saraswathi Nagar near Avadi when the tragedy happened. He was working with three others and they all were contract labourers with the Avadi Corporation
Gopinath was from Arundhati Puram in Avadi and he fell unconscious after inhaling the poisonous gas while working on repairing the blockage and he died from suffocation.
Even though the bystanders immediately informed the Avadi Fire Department officials about the incident, and the officials rushed to the spot, he was declared dead as soon as he was taken to the government hospital in Avadi.
Gopinath’s body has been sent to Kilpauk government hospital in Chennai for autopsy and the Avadi police have registered a case and initiated an investigation.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act was passed in 2013 and it aims to eradicate manual scavenging, albeit unsuccessfully.
Despite having legislation in place to address the issue, manual scavenging deaths are a common occurrence in India. Even in a state like Tamil Nadu, which is ruled by a Dravidian party – DMK – led coalition, manual scavenging deaths are rampant.
DMK is a party that prides itself on social justice and anti-casteism, and yet manual scavengers, who more often than not belong to the oppressed Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) belong to oppressed castes, continue to perish.
A few years back, motorised sewer cleaning equipment was introduced in India but Tamil Nadu is yet to deploy them state-wide (a handful of machines were introduced in 2018 but they were restricted to very few places).
A week after regaining power in the state in May 2021, the ruling DMK government MLAs and ministers were seen doing photoshoots with the sewer cleaning machines and told the media that the state would eradicate manual scavenging soon as it is one of the most important agendas in their election manifesto. But the reality is different.
(Edited by Neena with inputs from Baskar P)
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