Officials claim those identified as manual scavengers may not be practising & govt aid is to remove stigma. But experts say it is still prevalent due to poor infra in urban, rural areas.
The new bill is still awaiting cabinet approval. It proposes to completely mechanise the process of cleaning sewers and septic tanks, among other changes.
'Swachhata Abhiyan' app launched in December will operate till May. Social justice ministry hopes to identify undocumented manual scavengers for rehabilitation.
Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (Amendment) Bill, 2020, proposes to completely mechanise the process of cleaning sewers and septic tanks.
The absence of a statutory obligation to provide sanitation services by state agencies creates a situation where the rights of manual scavengers hang in the air.
Number of manual scavengers in India had come down from nearly 8 lakh in 2003 to about 13,000 in 2013. But despite Swachh Bharat, this figure shot up to 42,303 in 2018.
Modi government needs to extend the scope of the Swachh Bharat campaign and improve sanitation keeping in mind that many sanitation workers are Dalits.
Israel's response to Iran's retaliatory attack was relatively small and also downplayed by Tehran. But there are factors that could jeopardise this perceived reprieve.
The 125 APAs include 86 Unilateral APAs (UAPAs) and 39 Bilateral APAs (BAPAs). The total number of APAs since the start of the APA programme has risen to 641, with 506 UAPAs and 135 BAPAs.
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