Congress MP Varsha Eknath Gaikwad has raised concerns over the continued practice of manual scavenging. Sharing the video of a sanitation worker entering a manhole without protective gear allegedly in Mumbai’s Bandra, she said it is a “stain on our collective conscience” and urged authorities to take strict action. It’s not an old video but from 2025, she claimed.
“Manual scavenging. In Bandra. In 2025,” the Member of Parliament from Mumbai North Central wrote. “Over a decade after India passed a law banning this inhuman practice, and despite multiple Supreme Court judgments demanding dignity, safety, and protective gear for sanitation workers – we are still here,” she added.
Manual scavenging. In Bandra. In 2025.
Over a decade after India passed a law banning this inhuman practice, and despite multiple Supreme Court judgments demanding dignity, safety, and protective gear for sanitation workers—we are still here. Watching a man enter a manhole with… pic.twitter.com/qX8BBCyCai
— Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) March 28, 2025
What Is Manual Scavenging?
Manual scavenging is the practice of manually cleaning, handling, and disposing of human excreta from dry latrines, open drains, septic tanks, or sewers. This hazardous job often requires workers to enter manholes, pits, or railway tracks without protective gear, exposing them to deadly gases and infections.
A manual scavenger is a person employed – by an individual, local authority, or private agency – to manually clean, carry, dispose of, or handle human excreta from insanitary latrines, open drains, pits, or railway tracks before it fully decomposes. The term also applies to those working in any other notified locations where human waste is improperly disposed of.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, explicitly bans hazardous cleaning of sewers without safety measures.
Varsha Gaikwad On Manual Scavenging
“We must end it. Not tomorrow. Not with another policy. But with collective responsibility, now,” Varsha Gaikwad said.
She claimed that the incident was not part of any civic project but private work undertaken in a residential society. “This underlines the harsh truth; our society never really wanted to end this cruelty. We want clean drains, but we look away when a human being is made to crawl into filth,” she said.
She urged authorities to “crack down on private contractors” engaging in such illegal practices, calling for penalties and strict enforcement. She also appealed to citizens to stop hiring such contractors, warning that “you are not just breaking the law, you’re breaking a human soul.”
“This is not just illegal, it is a stain on our collective conscience,” she said.
Government Data
According to government data, as of July 2024, 732 out of 766 districts have declared themselves manual scavenging-free. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has been pushing for mechanisation, with Rs 371 crore approved under Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban 2.0) to help smaller towns acquire cleaning machines.
Reports suggest that states now have access to over 5,000 septic tank vehicles, 1,100 Hydrovac machines, and 1,000 desilting machines.