Govt denies any deaths due to manual scavenging in past 5 years

• Union Social Justice Minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday in a written response in the Rajya Sabha stated that no manual scavenging deaths had taken place in the past 5 years.

• This came as he responded to a question by the Congress MPs Mallikarjun Kharge and L. Hanumanthaiah had asked for the number of people engaged in manual scavenging who had died in the last five years.

• Activist Safai Karamchari Andolan convenor Bezwada Wilson slammed the Centre for it's statement and stated that such a statement was 'cruel and inhuman'. He further added that 472 deaths had taken place due to manual scavenging in the past 5 years.

• Ironically, responding to a similar question last year, in 2020, the Government acknowledged of the fact that deaths had taken place and reported among those involved in manual scavenging.