A recent headline reads, “State Government failed to implement Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers Act and Rules despite Court orders: Karnataka High Court”. This is a clear reflection how low our social mentality has become. Despite the orders of the Karnataka High Court, the State Government couldn’t implement the laws and instead chose to be inhumane. A strange number of 48,345 manual scavengers were recorded in India in the year 2020.[1]

In a period where we strive for equality and modernisation, a substantial part of our population is busy cleaning our discharges because we are too busy in “making India a better place”. Manual scavenging has been an ancient practice, but there have been numerous such practices which could be successfully abolished. However, this is taking time primarily because the non-scavenging people don’t care much and the scavengers have made it a habit about which they have stopped feeling bad. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 has just become a discarded piece of document. Although the news is regarding Karnataka, it is also remarkable that at least Karnataka High Court is taking proper actions to ensure the abolishment of manual scavenging in their State.

The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 saw the scope for some massive improvisation when an amendment bill was passed in the year 2020. However, this bill did not see the light of day for enactment. Apart from just being an inhumane act, manual scavenging has also resulted in taking away several lives.

When we talk about removal of caste discrimination, we look at only certain aspects such as education, public employment, etc. It is sad that we overlook the fact that the manual scavengers are also a result of caste discrimination. Irrespective of any circumstance, we shall never see someone from upper caste doing manual scavenging because our society has constantly shown this path to a particular lower caste. Hence, it is high time that manual scavenging should be abolished in the country and the implementation of these laws should be made sure in a stricter sense so that “upliftment of India” becomes a reality. With this, we shall also hope that the order of the Karnataka High Court gets followed and the bona fide acts of the judiciary get recognized.