'Deep Failure to Protect the Most Vulnerable Members of Society': DASM on Manual Scavenging Deaths

New Delhi: The Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) has called for immediate registration of FIRs, and independent judicial inquiries into manual scavenging-related deaths in the country.

Terming the continuing deaths of manual scavengers in India as a “deep failure to protect the most vulnerable members of society”, the DASAM has also sought for adequate compensation and rehabilitation along with revocation of licences of the contractors and agencies responsible for violating the Supreme Court's ruling and engaging in illegal and hazardous manual scavenging.

“At a time when the government claims that manual scavenging has been eradicated, the ongoing and preventable deaths of sewer and septic tank workers across the country reveal a starkly different reality, marked by impunity, systemic caste-based discrimination, economic exploitation, and institutional neglect,” said the DASAM in a statement.

Citing specific instances in regions including Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha, the DASAM statement said that in 2024, 116 workers engaged in manual scavenging died, and in 2025, nearly 42 workers tragically lost their lives in the first six months of this year. The total number of manual scavenger deaths from 2024 to 2025 so far is 158, said the statement.

“Despite the legal framework provided by the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, and the Supreme Court's directive to eliminate manual scavenging, these deaths continue unabated,” the statement added.

The DASAM said that families of deceased workers should be provided with a minimum compensation of Rs. 30 lakh, along with comprehensive rehabilitation packages that include housing, education, healthcare, and employment opportunities for dependents and Rs. 20 lakh for disabilities.

It also called for a nationwide audit of sanitation work practices, particularly focusing on private enterprises and urban local bodies, with a complete ban on the sub-contracting of manual scavenging to unregulated and unaccountable labour intermediaries.

“All deaths must be thoroughly investigated, and FIRs must be registered under appropriate legal provisions, including The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, and The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,” said the DASAM statement.

Every fatality should be subjected to an independent judicial inquiry and all findings must be made public, with accountability at every level of government and law enforcement, it added.

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