REHABILITATION OF MANUAL SCAVENGERS

• Manual scavenging = manual handling/cleaning/carrying/disposing of human excreta from insanitary latrines, open drains, pits, railway tracks, sewers or septic tanks before decomposition — prohibited under the MS Act, 2013.
• A flagship social justice + dignity-of-labour issue intersecting Article 17 (abolition of untouchability), Article 21, Article 23 with caste, urban sanitation and Swachh Bharat objectives.
• Examinable for the Act of 2013, NAMASTE scheme (2023), One-Time Cash Assistance (OTCA), and Supreme Court directions on sewer deaths.