The unconscionable practice of manual scavenging in India has seen at least one life lost every five days since the year 2017, as per government statistics. Though this figure is considered to be a gross underestimation of the actual number of deaths, it is worth mentioning that any estimation of the number of deaths caused by manual scavenging is a mere fraction of the large number of those compelled to enter into sewers/septic tanks for manually cleaning them.Since the The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 came into force, efforts to eradicate this abominable practice have been at an admittedly sluggish pace. The Prevention of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (hereafter the 2013 Act) was enacted with the objective of overcoming the limitations of the 1993 Act. In 2014, the Supreme Court in Safai Karamchari Andolan & Ors vs The Union of India & Ors created a mandate for all states to implement the provisions of the 2013 Act.Also Read: After 25 Years of Broken Promises, India is Counting its Manual Scavengers. Again.However, a recent report titled ‘Justice Denied: Death of Workers Engaged in Manual Scavenging While Cleaning Septic Tank or Sewer’ by Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan revealed that there has been no implementation of any rehabilitative or punitive provisions of the 2013 Act to speak of. It further stated that the implementation of the self-employment scheme for rehabilitation of manual scavengers (SRMS) has been non-existent. Not a single family whose members have died while cleaning septic tanks or sewers received rehabilitative benefits under SRMS, nor have the children of those involved in such “hazardous and demeaning” practices been given the benefit of the much touted scholarship programme.In this regard, recent developments in a long pending case before the Delhi high court (National Campaign for Dignity and Rights of Sewerage and Allied Workers vs MCD & Ors) relating to identification and rehabilitation of manual scavengers are worth noting. The court has recently issued a spate of directions, and reprimanded authorities for their failure to implement the 2013 Act in Delhi.Identification of manual scavengersMost recently, an extensive and detailed order was passed on October 4 by a bench of the Delhi HC comprising Justice Ravindra Bhat and Justice A.K. Chawla.The issue of identification of those engaged in manual scavenging and sewage cleaning has been a long and convoluted one, primarily due to the denial of the very existence of manual scavengers by implementing authorities. This is reflected in the improper methodology of the surveys conducted thus far. However, the procedure is finally underway after the state level monitoring committee met on September 24. A decision to complete the survey within two months was taken, in accordance with the 2013 Act.Also Read: Since 2017, One Manual Scavenger Has Died on the Job Every Five DaysAfter numerous directions by the court, when the matter came up for hearing on October 4, the amicus curiae (friend of the court) said the mechanism for identification is in place and should now be to be implemented. The district of Shahdara identified 45 manual scavengers. A report by the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA) submitted in August 2016 stated that 233 persons were willing to identify themselves as manual scavengers in Delhi as a whole.Directions against the Delhi Jal BoardThe Delhi Jal Board (DJB) maintains a 6,348 km long network of sewers and a 1,342 km long peripheral sewage network. In earlier hearings, the DJB had asserted that there was no manual scavenging in its jurisdiction. At the same time, the DJB had also filed detailed affidavits containing extensive lists of protective gear purchased for their employees. In spite of questioning by the court, however, the duties of these (direct and indirect) employees remain ambiguous, with the counsel appearing for the DJB assuring the court that its employees did not have to enter manholes or sewers, except in exceptional circumstances. Recent events and their media coverage has shown that this assertion does not add up. The court was prompted to question as to why there was a need for so much protective gear if nobody was entering any sewers.During the hearing, an interesting but telling intervention was made by counsel appearing for the petitioner. She submitted that RTI applications had been filed with the DJB seeking information on the expenditure on “protective gear” since 2015. The reply of the DJB stated that there had been little to no expenditure on protective gear in the last three years. She pointed out that this fact is in stark contrast with the submissions made by the board thus far. Receiving no satisfactory answer from the DJB, a visibly shocked court asked whether the expenditure on protective gear is nil or “negligible” because the DJB has gone into the manufacturing of it themselves.Also Read: Modi Govt Has Not Released a Single Rupee for Rehabilitation of Manual ScavengersThe court also expressed concern that the DJB presently has only 140 suction-cum-jetting machines for maintenance of an approximately 7,000 km long sewage network. The court noted that such a vast network would require at least 500 machines. The unwillingness of the board to take responsibility was evident from its insistence that since 55% of the city does not fall under its jurisdiction, there was little it could do.Directions issuedAs no satisfactory answer was forthcoming from the DJB, the HC has issued directions in the strongest possible terms as follows:1. The 45 persons identified under the survey conducted in Shahdara are to be recognised in terms of the 2013 Act and all consequent rehabilitative measures are to be provided to them, including a one-time cash compensation, skill training and so on. This is to be done within four weeks.2. The children of those identified persons are also to be given the benefit of the scholarship programme under the Act.3. The court also requires details of all persons who are intended to be beneficiaries of rehabilitative measures under the Act, i.e. those engaged in manual scavenging and their dependents, along with the details of the skills training being imparted in Shahdara.4. The survey to identify manual scavengers in all districts of Delhi has to be completed within two months i.e. by November 24, along with the details of identities of individuals “found to have been performing manual scavenging tasks”. The survey also has to take into account the 233 names already identified in the DLSA report and verify their identities and vocation.5. Since, “the government’s stated position is that compensation was disbursed to several victims” details of the progress of steps taken to provide scholarships, compensation, compassionate appointments and any other rehabilitative measures for the families and children of those who have expired as a result of manual scavenging have to be provided.6. The DJB is required to show details and classes of all protective gear purchased by them in the last three years “and the number of individuals it sought to equip for this purpose together with the expenditure incurred by it”.7. The DJB is also required to review its “use of contractual employees who might be performing the tasks that are essentially those of the manual scavengers” on a district-wise basis starting with the district of East Delhi.8. Lastly, all local authorities (the three municipal corporations, NDMC, the Indian Railways, etc.) are required to provide details on the extent of open and partially open drainage networks, which are either maintained by them or existing in the areas.Since this case is being treated as a continuing mandamus, the court has fixed the next date of hearing as November 26. Perhaps, the court’s efforts to separate the grain from the chaff and send an unambiguous message of zero tolerance will reach the powers that be and real change will flow into the lives of those who, till now, have been treated as expendable.Kanika Sharma is an advocate working at the chambers of Shomona Khanna, advocate, Supreme Court of India.#Grit is an initiative of The Wire dedicated to the coverage of manual scavenging and sanitation and their linkages with caste, gender, policy and apathy. The Manual Scavenging Project is the first in a series of deep dive editorial projects.