Read Manjula Pradeep’s full N.H.R.C. statement by clicking here.
National Human Rights Commission Proceedings of the Open House Discussion on Dignity and Human Rights of Persons involved in Manual Scavenging held on 3rd January, 2025 at New Delhi The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) convened an Open House Discussion on Human Rights of Persons involved in Manual Scavenging at Manav Adhikar Bhawan, New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by Hon’ble Chairperson Shri Justice V. Ramasubramanian. Hon’ble Members Smt. Vijaya Bharati Sayani, and Justice Dr. Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, Secretary General Shri Bharat Lal, Director General (I) Shri R. P. Meena, Registrar (Law) Shri Joginder Singh, Joint Secretary Shri Devendra Kumar Nim, and other senior officers were present in the meeting.
Ms. Manjula Pradeep, Founder and Chairperson, WAVYE Foundation, stated that manual scavengers are a kind of forced labour. Women who are involved in manual scavenging are often forced into this because of patriarchal societal approach. She mentioned some issues such as open defecation is still a persisting problem in the society. She highlighted the problem in various communities of Gujarat such as the toilets used by the rajput females were cleaned by women. The sadhvis of jain community use a system of toilet in their practices which is manually cleaned by manual scavengers. It is crucial to highlight that children from government schools are forced to clean toilets. She suggested that there should be monitoring where death of manual scavengers happened. She also added that contractors should be held responsible and government should take some strict action against them. Monitoring of open defecation should be checked especially in urban areas. Housing places of workers involved in manual scavengers should be checked. Awareness should be spread about the toilets made from new technologies among elders specifically. There should be a separate helpline for manual scavengers.
