NGO hopes manual scavenging will be eradicated by year end

NEW DELHI - Manual scavenging, which is still prevalent in many parts of the country despite being banned by law a long ago, is likely to be eradicated by this year end, an NGO said Monday.

Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA), an NGO working for the cause, said it hoped to eradicate manual scavenging by Dec 31, and was taking up various initiatives for this purpose.

In the last two years, through various SKA initiative, five states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Haryana have been freed of the scourge of manual scavenging. We are hoping to join Punjab and Rajasthan in the list soon, said Bezwada Wilson, president of SKA.

He also said that an all-India survey is in the process of being completed. The survey will put together a database of those still involved in manual scavenging, so that they could be rehabilitated.

The NGO has been organising a nationwide bus rally across 20 states since September 30 as part of its efforts to persuade manual scavengers to give up the profession. The rally culminates in Delhi Oct 31.