Summary:
The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday sought a reply from the state government within 24 hours on whether manual scavenging is still prevalent in the state, and what actions have been taken by it to curb the inhumane practice. The state government was supposed to file a reply in this regard on Tuesday after the court issued notice to it last week, but failed to do so. Instead, it sought a week's time to file the reply. Ganguly had pointed out that manual scavenging has been banned in India and the Supreme Court has issued several guidelines to state governments for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers and to put an end to the inhumane practice. He had argued that the state government has not taken any steps to follow the apex court's guidelines and that the system of manual scavenging still prevails in Gujarat..