Skip to main content

Three years on, Gujarat govt "fails" to implement Supreme Court order to compensate 146 manhole deaths

A manhole worker in Ahmedabad, March 22
By A Representative
In what is being interpreted as a clear violation of the Supreme Court order, the Gujarat government has not begun implementation of the three-year-old apex court order, dated March 27, 2014, requiring payment of Rs 10 lakh compensation to each of the manual scavengers who died cleaning up gutters across the state since 1993.
The order also required all state governments to provide insurance cover worth Rs 10 lakh to all manhole workers, which too remains unimplemented.
Manav Garima Trust, one of Gujarat’s premier civil rights organization fighting for justice to manhole workers, has estimated that between 1993 and till date as many as 146 persons have due to asphyxiation in gutters. Only one person, from Savarkundla, has been paid the compensation so far – that too on March 2, 2017, following the death of a manhole worker a day earlier.
Trust’s director Parsottam Vaghela told Counterview, “On March 16, 2017, we handed over the list of those who should be paid the compensation, as despite the lapse of four years of the apex court judgment, there is no movement in compensating the deaths.”
Vaghela said, “To our utter surprise, we found that the Gujarat government has not even prepared the list of those who have died. We hope, now that we have handed over the list, along with all the details, the state government will act.”
Pointing out that this is not for the first time he has handed over the list, Vaghela revealed, “We have also prepared a separate list of 32 manhole workers, who died on work following the Supreme Court order. I handed over both the lists to Punamchand Parmar, principal secretary, urban development department.”
A scan through official documents suggests how indifferent the state government has been towards the plight of manhole workers. The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, and the model rules made to implement it, ban manhole workers’ entry into gutters and septic tanks without proper security equipment.
As the state governments, including that of Gujarat, did not act, and manhole workers continued to die due to asphyxiation, civil society organizations approached the apex court, which ruled a year later to compensate for the death of manhole workers since 1993 across India.
The apex court also ruled to provide an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh free of cost to each of the manhole workers, whether working with urban or rural local bodies or with private contractors.
While Gujarat’s panchayat and rural development department came up with a GR on June 21, 2014, the state urban development department followed suit two-and-a-half years later, on December 16, 2016, only after the Manav Garima Trust filed public interest litigation in the matter in the Gujarat High Court to begin implementing of the Supreme Court order.
To suggest that the state government is “acting”, the social justice and empowerment department came up with a separate GR four days later, on December 20, 2016, declaring that it is the responsibility of the panchayat department for rural areas and urban development department for urban areas for ensuring implementation of the apex court order, as also the 2013 Act banning manual scavenging.
“All these GRs have remained on paper, only to show that the state government intends to comply by the legal requirement”, Vaghela says, adding, “The state government has not just not paid the Rs 10 lakh compensation; it has not even provided insurance cover of Rs 10 to each of the manhole workers.”

Comments

TRENDING

Adani coalmine delayed? Australian senate fails to pass crucial "reform" amendment for project's financial closure

Adanis' Mundra power plant, controversial in Australia By  A  Representative In what is being described as a new “new hurdle”, the proposed Adani coalmine in the Queensland state of in Australia failed to get the crucial Australian Parliamentary nod, essential for financial closure for one of the biggest coalmining projects in the world. The government lost the Senate vote 35-33, meaning the legislation won't pass until the Senate returns in mid-June.

Paul Newman wasn't just remarkably talented, he was anti-war activist, disdained Hollywood excesses

By Harsh Thakor*  On January 26th of this year, we celebrated the birth centenary of Paul Newman, one of the finest actors of his era. His passing on September 26, 2008, after a prolonged battle with lung cancer, was met with an outpouring of tributes and remembrances from artists across the film industry, all sharing their thoughts and memories of the legendary actor.  

Aurangzeb’s last will recorded by his Maulvi: Allah shouldn't make anyone emperor

By Mohan Guruswamy  Aurangzeb’s grave is a simple slab open to the sky lying along the roadside at Khuldabad near Aurangabad. I once stopped by to marvel at the tomb of an Emperor of India whose empire was as large as Ashoka the Great's. It was only post 1857 when Victoria's domain exceeded this. The epitaph reads: "Az tila o nuqreh gar saazand gumbad aghniyaa! Bar mazaar e ghareebaan gumbad e gardun bas ast." (The rich may well construct domes of gold and silver on their graves. For the poor folks like me, the sky is enough to shelter my grave) The modest tomb of Aurangzeb is perhaps the least recognised legacies of the Mughal Emperor who ruled the land for fifty eventful years. He was not a builder having expended his long tenure in war and conquest. Towards the end of his reign and life, he realised the futility of it all. He wrote: "Allah should not make anyone an emperor. The most unfortunate person is he who becomes one." Aurangzeb’s last will was re...

Health expert Dr Amitav Banerjee on commercialization of healthcare and neglect of natural immunity

By AK Shiburaj  In an interview with me, eminent health expert Dr. Amitav Banerjee has examined the impact of privatization on the healthcare sector, the implications of the World Health Organization (WHO) becoming a commercially driven entity, and the consequences of a pharmaceutical industry prioritizing profit over public health. He argues that an approach ignoring the importance of natural immunity fosters a drug-centric system that undermines the benefits of modern medicine.

Haven't done a good deed, inner soul is cursing me as sinner: Aurangzeb's last 'will'

Counterview Desk The Tomb of Aurangzeb, the last of the strong Mughal emperors, located in Khuldabad, Aurangabad district, Maharashtra, has this epitaph inscribed on it: "Az tila o nuqreh gar saazand gumbad aghniyaa! Bar mazaar e maa ghareebaan gumbad e gardun bas ast" (the rich may well construct domes of gold and silver on their graves. For the poor folks like me, the sky is enough to shelter my grave).

Trust, we (from People to PM and President) did not take a Holy Dip in some Holy Shit!

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava  I could see two deeply interlinked aspects between human and water in #MahaKumbh2025. Firstly, the HOPE that a ‘holy dip’ in the River Ganga (colloquially referred as dubki and spiritually as ‘Snan’) will cleanse oneself (especially the sins); and secondly, the TRUST that the water is pure to perform the cleansing alias living the hope. Well, I consider hope to be self-dependent while, trust is a multi-party dependent situation. The focus here is on the trust and I shall write later on hope.

Hyderabad seminar rekindles memories of the spark lit 50 years ago by students

By Harsh Thakor*  History is something we constantly remember and reflect upon, but certain moments and events bring it back to our memory in a special way. For the Telugu people, and Telangana in particular, the memorial seminar held on February 20–21 was a significant occasion to recall the glorious events, transformations, leaders, and heroes of past struggles. Thousands of students rewrote the history of people's movements in Andhra Pradesh, carrying revolutionary zeal and the spirit of self-sacrifice to levels comparable to the Russian and Chinese Revolutions.

4th Dalit literature festival to address critical issues affecting Dalits, women, tribals

By A Representative  The 4th Dalit Literature Festival (DLF) has been announced, with the theme "World Peace is Possible Through Dalit Literature."  The festival will take place on February 28th and March 1st, 2025, at Aryabhatta College, University of Delhi (South Campus).  Organized by the Ambedkarvadi Lekhak Sangh (ALS) in collaboration with Aryabhatta College, Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), and other organizations, the DLF aims to highlight the power of Dalit literature in fostering global peace and addressing social injustices.

Vadodara citizens urge authorities to adhere to environmental mandates in Vishwamitri River Rejuvenation Project

By A Representative   A coalition of environmental activists, ecologists, and urban planners in Vadodara has issued an urgent appeal to state and municipal authorities, demanding strict compliance with court-mandated guidelines for the upcoming Vishwamitri River rejuvenation project. Scheduled to commence in March 2025, the initiative aims to mitigate flooding and restore the river, but citizens warn that current plans risk violating National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders and jeopardizing the river’s fragile ecosystem, home to endangered species like crocodiles and Indian Softshell Turtles.  

Buddhist communities in Michigan protest for Mahabodhi Temple’s return to Buddhist control

By A Representative   Buddhist communities in Michigan have staged protests demanding the return of the Mahabodhi Vihara in Gaya, Bihar, India, to full Buddhist control. The Mahabodhi Temple, regarded as the holiest pilgrimage site in Buddhism, is currently managed under the Bodhgaya Temple Act of 1949, which grants a majority of control to non-Buddhists.