Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan on Tuesday said that the continued practice of manual scavenging is an embarrassment for the country and the Centre needs to address this issue and respond to it.
Highlighting the degraded plight of manual scavengers in Rajya Sabha, Bachchan said, “Why have we not done away with manual scavenging yet and not been able to provide protector gears to them when we talk about progress in other areas.”Appealing to the Centre to provide a response on their issues, Bachchan said, “You do Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, this is a part of Swachh Bharat.” Bachan also asked Railway Minister Piyush Goyal to address the issue of railways employing manual scavengers.
Bachachan emphasized on the need to provide scavengers “dignity and rehabilitation” and punish the “contractors who do not provide them with proper gears.”
She also stressed on the discrimination faced by them in the society. “Children of manual scavengers do not wish to do this work, but they are discriminated against and are therefore not rehabilitated properly,” Bachchan said.
