Plight of Manual Scavengers Under Modi Govt Is Kaafi Real

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 February washed the feet of five sanitation workers at Kumbh Mela.

On average, one person has died every five days while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in India since 1 January 2017.

(Illustration by Aroop Mishra/ The Quint)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, 24 February, washed the feet of five persons employed as sanitation workers during the Swachh Kumbh Swachh Aabhaar event in Prayagraj.

Under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the BJP government had set the target of ‘eradicating the practice of manual scavenging’ by 2019, but the data reveals something else entirely.

On average, one person has died every five days while cleaning sewers and septic tanks in India since 1 January 2017, according to numbers collated by the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis.

(Illustration by Aroop Mishra/ The Quint)

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