Mechanisation alone cannot end caste-linked sanitation work. Comment, with reference to the NAMASTE scheme.

Section 7 of the PEMSR Act, 2013 bans employing anyone for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks [1]. Even so, 332 workers died doing this work across 18 States/UTs between January 2021 and June 2026 [2]. The NAMASTE scheme tries to replace hands with machines. The statement is largely valid because the problem is social and administrative as well as technical.

What NAMASTE's mechanisation achieves

• Safety by design: The scheme was launched to end unsafe sewer and septic-tank cleaning by mechanising these operations [3].
• Worker identification: 89,915 sewer and septic tank workers have been validated. They receive PPE kits and Ayushman Bharat health cover [4].
• From labourer to entrepreneur: A capital subsidy for sanitation machinery lets workers and their groups run cleaning services themselves [4].

Why machines alone fall short

• Caste concentration: 67.91% of validated workers are from Scheduled Castes [5]. Yet the government calls the work "occupation-based rather than caste-based" [5], which weakens caste-sensitive rehabilitation. If the same communities run the jetting machines, the occupation stays caste-coded. This conflicts with Article 17 and the dignity guaranteed under Article 21.
• Weak enforcement: Only 193 FIRs were registered in five years despite repeated deaths [2]. The NHRC still had to take suo motu cognizance of sewer-chamber deaths in Indore (2026) [6].
• Outsourcing gaps: Civic bodies subcontract much of this work, which blurs liability. Dr. Balram Singh v. Union of India (2023) extended duties to outsourced work and raised compensation to ₹30 lakh for each death [7].
• Narrow coverage: The scheme counts validated workers. It does not secure alternative livelihoods or education for the next generation.

Way forward

• Link NAMASTE to skilling, education and jobs outside sanitation for workers' families.
• Fix principal-employer liability on civic bodies and private premises, and pay compensation within set deadlines as Balram Singh requires [7].
• Publish death and prosecution data openly every year, and run social audits of mechanisation [2].

Machines can remove the body from the sewer, but they cannot remove caste from the occupation. NAMASTE is a necessary base. It must be paired with firm enforcement, real social mobility and the Constitution's promise of dignity. Only then can SDG 6 and the vision of Article 17 be achieved.