Observing that there is hardly any implementation of the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 in the State, the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed the State government to submit comprehensive data about the survey of insanitary latrines and details about their conversion/demolition.
The court also directed the State to immediately initiate awareness campaign on a large scale, involving the NGOs, for elimination of the practice of open defecation and ensure that all the local authorities comply with their obligation of eliminating the practice in their jurisdiction.
Noticing that a data published by the Union government shows that there are 53,15,715 insanitary latrines in Karnataka, the Bench observed that this data was an indication to the failure on part of the local authorities and the government to implement the provisions of the law in its letter and spirit.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty issued a series of directions while deciding to continuously monitor the process of implementation in the State. The All India Council for Trade Unions and the High Court Legal Services Committee had filed PIL petitions complaining about non-implementation of law banning manual scavenging.
The Bench directed the government to ask all the local authorities to comply with the obligations under the manual scavenging prohibition law to immediately ascertain the requirement of number of sanitary community latrines within their respective jurisdictions, and then to construct such latrines, while observing that insanitary toilets were required to be converted or demolished with certain period after the law came into force in December 2013.
The Bench also directed the government to submit particulars related to district and State-level committees set up to carry out survey of manual scavengers, the list of manual scavengers identified in each district, and the steps taken to rehabilitate the identified manual scavengers and schemes available for their rehabilitation.
Also, the government has been directed to submit the number of First Information Reports (FIRs) registered, the charge sheets submitted for violating prohibition of manual scavengers law, and details of such cases that ended in acquittal or conviction in the designated trial courts. Further hearing has been adjourned till February 2.
