Hyderabad: Union Social Justice and Empowerment minister Ramdas Athawale said that there are no manual scavengers in Telangana, and stated that the data was derived at through surveys conducted in 2013 and 2018.
This statement was made in response to a question raised by Congress MP Gaddam Vamsi Krishna during a Lok Sabha session on Tuesday, December 17.
Athawale stated that the government has successfully rehabilitated manual scavengers into alternative professions.
‘NDA govt has no intention of eradicating manual scavenging’
To support this initiative, interviews were conducted with 3,813 beneficiaries across 13 states, including Telangana.
Among those surveyed, 45% were aged between 31 and 45 years, while 25% were aged between 46 and 60 years. Notably, 56.5% of the beneficiaries identified were women.
Manual scavenging refers to the practice of manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling human excreta from insanitary latrines, open drains, and sewers.
This practice has been historically linked to caste-based discrimination, predominantly affecting marginalized communities, particularly Dalits.
Despite being officially banned since 1993, manual scavenging persists in India due to inadequate sanitation infrastructure and socio-economic factors.
