Banned by law but still inflicting a significant toll of lives lost, manual scavenging in sewers and septic tanks remains a blot on governance, and the Supreme Court is making a renewed push to ensure accountability of state governments under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013.

The court’s move comes in the wake of 332 worker deaths in the five years preceding June 2026. Although the employment of people to remove human excrement from sewers and septic tanks is totally banned, many states have an abysmal record of implementation—Maharashtra, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat and Rajasthan are the most prominent in the hall of shame, joined by 12 other states and Union........

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