The court has been informed that the legal heirs of 137 out of the 152 individuals who lost their lives while performing manual scavenging have been compensated by the state authorities.
In an effort to eradicate manual scavenging, the Gujarat High Court recently passed an order declaring that the chief of the Gram Panchayat and the Commissioner of the concerned civic body will be summoned if any person is caught engaging in this inhumane practice.
On May 1, a division bench comprising of acting Chief Justice AJ Desai and Justice Biren Vaishnav passed this order.
“We make it clear that till the next date of hearing, if any of the worker whose services have been availed by any of the Municipal Corporation, any Municipality or any Gram Panchayat for cleaning sewerage in the concerned area, the Municipal Commissioner of concerned Corporation, Chief Officer of concerned Municipality and Sarpanch of concerned Gram Panchayat shall be held liable for the action since by the Government Resolution dated June 21, 2014, such activities have been banned,” the court made it clear.
The court was addressing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition that pertained to manual scavenging in the state. The petition aimed to ensure the appropriate implementation of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act of 2013.
As per a previous directive, the court was apprised that 137 legal heirs of the 152 individuals who died while performing manual scavenging have received compensation from the state. The authorities also revealed that they are gathering information on more individuals involved in this practice.
