New Delhi: In the wake of recent deaths of many persons in Delhi while cleaning sewer/septic tanks, Sh. Manhar Valji Bhai Zala, Chairman, National Commission for Safai Karamcharis along with the member of the Commission Smt. Manju Diler held a meeting with Shri Anil Baijal, Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and Shri Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister, Govt. of NCT of Delhi today in the Raj Bhawan, New Delhi.
Expressing his deep sense of grief and sorrow at the loss of lives of so many persons in the last couple of months in the city, the Chairman of the Commission urged the Delhi Government to ensure implementation of “The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013” in its true letter and spirit to check recurrences of such accidents. He also urged the Delhi Government to immediately ban the hazardous cleaning of sewers/septic tanks manually and for complete mechanization of this type of cleaning. He also expressed his reservations about nil reporting of insanitary latrines and manual scavengers by the city government and demanded that a re-survey in this regard should be conducted through an independent third party.
Sharing his concerns in this regard, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi apprised the Commission about the various steps being taken by the City government to address the problem. The city government has introduced a new safety protocol for cleaning of sewers/septic tanks with emphasis on minimum human intervention for the job. The Chief Minister of Delhi also informed the Commission that the City government is very much alive and sensitive to the problem and that he himself visited the family members of all the victims and handed over the cheques of Rs. 10.00 lacs each as the compensation.
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