Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
Dr. Virendra Kumar chairs the 9th meeting of the Central Monitoring Committee to review implementation of the Manual Scavengers Act, 2013
Posted On: 19 DEC 2024 6:51PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr. Virendra Kumar, today chaired the ninth meeting of the Central Monitoring Committee (CMC) to review the compliance of Hon’ble Supreme Court order dated 20.10.2023 and 11.12.2024, in the matter of Dr. Balram Singh Vs Union of India. The order is regarding constitution of Commission and various Committees stipulated in Manual Scavengers (MS) Act, 2013 and Manual Scavengers (MS) Rules, 2013, a fresh survey of Manual Scavengers, payment of enhanced compensation to dependants of sewer victims, rehabilitation of sewage workers and those who die and uploading the relevant information on the portal.
The meeting was attended by the Smt. Anjna Panwar, Vice-Chairperson, National Commission for Safai Karamcharies and Member of CMC, Shri Bhagwat Prasad Makwana, Ms. Abha Kumar, Shri Nand Jee Mishra, Shri R.M. Sriram, Members of CMC. Secretary, DoSJE, and Officers of States and UTs and representatives from the Central Ministries/Departments/Commissions and State Monitoring Committees, also attended the meeting.
As per the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (MS Act, 2013), CMC is to
(i) monitor and advise the Central Government and State Government for effective implementation of this Act and related laws and programmes;
(ii) co-ordinate the functions of all concerned agencies; and,
(iii) look into any other matter incidental to or connected with implementation of this Act.
The Minister reviewed the status as per the compliance of the Hon’ble Supreme Court judgment. The States/UTs were also impressed up on to take immediate steps for compliance as under the MS Act, 2013 and Rules thereof and to take effective time bound steps as per various directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.
The review meeting took stock of following:-
(a) The position regarding setting up of State Commission for Safai Karmacharis/Authority designated, State Monitoring Committee, State Level Survey Committee, District Level Survey Committee and District Vigilance Committee. The Minister expressed concern about not setting up of the Committees by some of States/UTs. He advised States/UTs to immediately take action regarding compliance of mandatory provisions of Law.
(b) Dr. Virendra Kumar expressed concerns that only 257 Districts have uploaded the manual scavenging free certificate on the portal of Government of India. He advised remaining Districts to comply with the directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court and to update the status immediately as per the time line.
The Central Monitoring Committee noted that the NAMASTE scheme has been launched by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in convergence with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to ensure safety and dignity of Sewer and Septic Tank Workers (SSWs). Intended outcomes of NAMASTE scheme is to achieve zero fatalities of SSWs in sanitation work, to ensure that no sanitation worker comes in direct contact with human faecal matter, and for mechanized cleaning of Sewer and Septic Tanks.
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