Gujarat High Court asks govt to give details on manual scavenging in 24 hrs

  • | Wednesday | 26th June, 2019

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.

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. However, the division bench of Justice SR Brahmbhatt and Justice AP Thaker refused to grant any additional time and directed the government to file its reply by Wednesday. The direction was given in connection with a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a community-based organisation Manav Garima, which works for the rights of manual scavengers in Gujarat. Counsel for the petitioner-organisation, Hirak Ganguly, had earlier pointed out to the court about the incident on June 15 where seven persons died while cleaning the septic tank of a hotel in Dabhoi taluka of Vadodara. 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. The advocate contended that the petitioner has already submitted a list of persons who have died while cleaning drainage and sewage lines in the state. It was submitted to the court that the kin of the deceased are supposed to get a compensation of Rs 10 lakh as per the apex court's guidelines, but the government has not done anything in this regard either.

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