Manual Scavenging is an inhuman practice that continues even to this day though the government denies the same. In fact, multiple government & independent agencies such as the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis & the NHRC have expressed serious reservations about the government data based on a 2018 survey. Even the NCRB has stopped publishing the number of cases registered under the 2013 act meant to prohibit employment as manual scavengers. Despite a legislation banning the act of manual scavenging, the practice continues to exist in India. While there is some general agreement that this practice continues to exist, there are a lot of discrepancies around the data on manual scavengers in the country. The numbers provided by independent organizations like the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) point towards the underestimation of the figures by the government. Even the government data, provided in response to multiple questions in Parliament at different points of time is contradictory. Manual scavenging exists despite legislation According to the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 that was brought in to prohibit employment of manual scavengers, ‘Manual Scavenger’ is a person engaged in or employed for manually carrying human excreta. After close to two decades, the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 was passed to override the provisions of the 1993 act. This act laid down a detailed definition of ‘manual scavenger’ as an individual engaged or employed for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta in premises such as railway tracks, open drains, septic tanks, and insanitary latrines. Those persons who clean excreta using devices and protective gears are not deemed as manual scavengers, as per the Act. Government’s legislation and schemes to prohibit manual scavenging Various laws and schemes have been implemented over the years to put an end to the practice and uplift the individuals and families involved in manual scavenging. Two important legislations, as mentioned earlier are, In addition to the government’s interventions, there are organizations like the Safai Karmachari Andolan which are also on a mission to eliminate manual scavenging from the country. More than 97% of those engaged in manual scavenging are from the SC community Manual scavenging invites not only caste-based discrimination & social inequality but also is hazardous with severe health implications for those involved. Most of the people engaged in this activity are those belonging to Scheduled Castes. According to a parliament response from December 2021, a total of 58,098 manual scavengers have been identified as per the criteria laid down in the 2013 act. Of these, caste-related data is available for 43,797 manual scavengers, 97.25% of who belonged to Scheduled Castes. Multiple other Government agencies contradict the official Government line Despite a legislation with stringent provisions, and concerted efforts to eliminate the practice, manual scavenging is prevalent even today. Though the Government recently stated in Parliament that there is no report of people currently engaged in manual scavenging in the country, the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK)’s latest annual report (2019-20) noted that the practice which started long back and became prominent due to urbanization and industrialization is still continuing in both rural and urban areas. Even the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in a statement in January 2021, held that the claims made by many States that they have zero manual scavengers and zero insanitary latrines are far from the truth. SECC 2011 revealed that 1.82 lakh persons in rural households were involved in manual scavenging Based on the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC-2011), data of manual scavengers was released by the Ministry of Rural Development in July 2015. As per SECC-2011, there were 1,82,505 manual scavengers in only the rural areas of the country. It should be noted that the SECC-2011 data is based on respondent input as revealed by the households to the enumerator. Census 2011 also revealed that there were over 26 lakh insanitary latrines in the country which requires human excreta to be cleaned or handled manually. The government claims to have converted the majority into sanitary ones under the Swachh Bharath Mission.