Question raised in Lok Sabha on Welfare of Sanitation Workers, 11/07/2019. To prevent the practice of manual cleaning of sewage and septic tanks by workers by going inside the tanks without safety equipment, a provision has been made in Section 7 of the “Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Rehabilitation Act, 2013” (MS Act, 2013), which lays down that no person, local authority or any agency shall engage or employ, either directly or indirectly, any person for hazardous cleaning of sewer or a septic tank. As the MS Act, 2013 had come into force on 6.12.2013, hazardous cleaning of a sewer or septic tank that is cleaning without protective gear and other cleaning devices is a prohibited activity with effect from 6.12.2014.
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