152 manhole workers' death: Gujarat govt "fails" to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation, required under 2013 law

By Our Representative
In a glaring instance of indifference, the Gujarat government has failed to execute the crucial provision of a 2013 law which requires payment of Rs 10 lakh compensation for the death of 152 manhole workers in a decade due to asphyxiation in the state.
Bringing this to light, Jitendra Rathod, senior activist with Ahmedabad-based NGO Janvikas, says, the Supreme Court order dated March 27, 2014 wanted the provision of the payment of compensation under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, to be strictly implemented with retrospective effect.
Stating that “so far no action has been taken by the state government in last two years in implementing the 2013 Act”, Rathod blames the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK), which is supposed the implement it.
Quoting from the Act, which came into effect on December 6, 2013, Rathod says, the NCSK is required to not only “inquire into complaints regarding contravention of the provisions of this Act, and to convey its findings to the concerned authorities with recommendations requiring further action.”
It is also mandated to “take suo motu notice of matter relating to non-implementation of the Act”, even as advising Central and the state governments for “effective implementation” of its provisions. Also, it is empowered to “call for information with respect to any matter specified in that subsection from any government or local or other authority.”
“I filed a complaint on September 10 on non-implementation of the Act of 2013 with the NCSK”, says Rathod, but says, he was “shocked” to find that the contents of the NCSK website is outdated by 20 years.
“It quotes 1991 census for Scheduled Castes (SCs) population”, Rathod says, adding, “It quotes the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines Prohibition Act, 1993”, instead of the latest 2013 Act.
At one point, says Rathod, the website, which talks of Integrated Low Cost Sanitation Scheme and National Scheme for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers, hopes to eradicate the “inhuman practice of manual scavenging will December 31, 007.”
“There is nothing about the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, the judgment of the Supreme Court to identify and award compensation of Rs 10 lakh, the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules 2013, or the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers, as revised in November 2013”, Rathod says.
Nor does the website have any “system for redressing grievances, roles and responsibilities of the SCSK to ensure effective implementation of the Act of 2013”, he adds.
Further, he says, ““In grievances section, there is nothing about manual scavenging in the website”, pointing out, “We have concrete details of more than 200 spots in Ahmedabad city, where sweepers are forced by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) to manually clean/handle/remove human excreta every day.”

Comments

Mallika Sarabhai releases speech she was 'not allowed' to give at NID Convocation on Feb 7

Counterview Desk
The National Institute of Design (NID) in Ahmedabad, a Ministry of Commerce and Industry body, landed itself in controversy following its decision to put off its 40th convocation ceremony, where noted danseuse Mallika Sarabhai was invited as chief guest. The ceremony was scheduled to be held on February 7.

Modi, Shah 'forget': Gandhi’s first Satyagraha was against citizenship law of South Africa

By Nachiketa Desai*
Hindu fanatic Nathuram Godse assassinated Mahatma Gandhi once on January 30, 1948 but his followers raising the war cry of ‘Jai Sriram’ are killing the Mahatma every day. In his home state of Gujarat, Gandhiji was killed a thousand times in 2002 when over 2,000 Muslims were butchered, their women raped, homes and shops plundered and set on fire and even unborn babies ripped out of the wombs of their mothers.

As corona virus 'travels' to rural areas, NGO begins training tribals, marginalised women

By Souparno Chatterjee*
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared corona virus a pandemic. Originating from Wuhan in China, it has traversed the entire globe, almost, and claimed more than 16,000 lives already. That’s largely the urban population. In India, despite all the preparedness and war-like promptness to safeguard against the pandemic, several lives have been lost , and hundreds of individuals have tested positive.

Rani Laxmi Bai, Tatya Tope 'martyred' by East India Company, Scindia's forefathers

By Our Representative
In an email alert to Counterview, well-known political scientist Shamsul Islam has said that was “shameful for any political party in democratic India to keep children of Sindhias in their flock” given their role during the First War of Indian Independence (1857). In a direct commentary on Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia moving over to BJP, Prof Islam has quote from a British gazetteer to prove his point.

COVID-19: Dalit rights bodies regret, no relief plan yet for SCs, STs, marginalized

By Our Representative
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the National Dalit Watch-National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, endorsed* by several other Dalit rights organizations, have insisted, the Government of India should particular care of the scheduled castes and tribes, trans folks, persons with disabilities and the women and children from these communities, while fighting against COVID-19 pandemic.

Big 'danger' of NPR: A babu can tag anyone as doubtful citizen, Jharkhand meet told

' By Our Representative
People in large numbers from across Jharkhand gathered at the Raj Bhawan in Ranchi to demand that the Hemant Soren government reject National Population Register (NPR) and stop all NPR-related activities. The people’s organisations which participated in the dharna under the banner of the Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JMM) resolved to intensify their struggle, insisting, NPR is not a Hindu-Muslim issue but is essentially anti-poor.

Gujarat govt plan to 'banish' Gandhian activist anti-democratic, unconstitutional

By Rohit Prajapati*
The current Central and Gujarat governments, and their bureaucracy, have been and are still unable to answer and address the concerns raised, with facts, figures, and constitutional provisions, regarding the terror of tourism in the name of the Statue of Unity and tourism projects surrounding it.

Haridwar Swamis lead Khudai Khidmatgar peace march in Delhi 'riot affected' areas

By Our Representative
A Khudai Kidmatgar team, which visited the riot-affected regions along with Swami Shivanand Saraswati and Swami Punyanand, has insisted that India's true heritage is the lesson of ‘vasudhaiv kutumbakam', and it is the responsibility of all to carry froward this legacy. Originally founded by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in 1930, also known as Frontier Gandhi, Khudai Khidmatgar is claimed to have been revived by young Gandhian activist Faisal Khan in 2011.

Across the board, among Muslims, Hindus, there's enormous fury at Delhi Police: Report

Counterview Desk
A quick report, prepared by Delhi's concerned citizens, "Let Us Heal Our Dilli", based on one-day visit (February 27) to several areas and mohallas of North East Delhi affected by the riots that gripped the country's capital -- Bhajanpura, Chand Bagh, Gokulpuri, Chaman Park, Shiv Vihar, Main Mustafabad (including Bhagirathi Vihar and Brijpuri) -- has said everywhere there is "zero trust" towards that the police.

Counterview

Search This Blog