The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013

(1) This Act may be called the Prohibition ofEmployment as Manual Scavengersand their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. (2) It extends to the whole of India 1***. (3) It shall come into force on such date3as the Central Government may, by notificationin theOfficial Gazette, appoint: Provided that the date so notified shall not be earlier than sixty days after the date ofpublication of2[the said notification] in the Official Gazette

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, (a) "agency" means any agency, other than a local authority, which mayundertake sanitationfacilities in an area and includes a contractor or a firm or a companywhich engages in developmentand maintenance of real estate; (b) "appropriate government", in relation to Cantonment Boards, railway lands,and lands andbuildings owned by the Central Government, a Central Public SectorUndertaking or an autonomousbody wholly or substantially funded by the CentralGovernment, means the Central Government andin all other cases, the StateGovernment; (c) "Chief Executive Officer", in relation to a Municipality or Panchayat, means,its senior-mostexecutive officer, by whatever name called; (d) "hazardous cleaning" by an employee, in relation to a sewer or septic tank,means its manualcleaning by such employee without the employer fulfilling hisobligations to provide protective gearand other cleaning devices and ensuringobservance of safety precautions, as may be prescribed orprovided in any other law,for the time being in force or rules made thereunder; (e) "insanitary latrine" means a latrine which requires human excreta to be cleanedor otherwisehandled manually, either in situ, or in an open drain or pit into which theexcreta is discharged orflushed out, before the excreta fully decomposes in suchmanner as may be prescribed: Provided that a water flush latrine in a railway passenger coach, when cleanedby an employeewith the help of such devices and using such protective gear, as theCentral Government may notify inthis behalf, shall not be deemed to be an insanitary latrine. (f) "local authority" means, (i) a Municipality or a Panchayat, as defined in clause (e) and clause (f) ofarticle 243P of theConstitution, which is responsible for sanitation in its area ofjurisdiction; (ii) a Cantonment Board constituted under section 10 of the CantonmentsAct, 2006(41 of 2006); and (iii) a railway authority; (g) "manual scavenger" means a person engaged or employed, at thecommencement of this Actor at any time thereafter, by an individual or a local authorityor an agency or a contractor, formanually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwisehandling in any manner, human excreta in aninsanitary latrine or in an open drain or pitinto which the human excreta from the insanitary latrines isdisposed of, or on arailway track or in such other spaces or premises, as the Central Government or aStateGovernment may notify, before the excreta fully decomposes in such manner as maybeprescribed, and the expression manual scavenging shall be construed accordingly. Explanation.For the purpose of this clause, (a) "engaged or employed" means being engaged or employed on a regularor contractbasis; (b) a person engaged or employed to clean excreta with the help of suchdevices and usingsuch protective gear, as the Central Government may notifyin this behalf, shall not be deemedto be a 'manual scavenger'; (h) "National Commission for Safai Karmacharis" means the National Commissionfor SafaiKaramcharis constituted under section 3 of the National Commission for SafaiKarmacharis Act,1993(64 of 1993) and continued by Resolution of the Government of India in theMinistry of SocialJustice and Empowerment vide No.17015/18/2003-SCD-VI, dated24th February, 2004 and asamended from time to time; (i) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette and theexpression“notify” shall be construed accordingly; (j) “occupier”, in relation to the premises where an insanitary latrine exists, orsomeone isemployed as a manual scavenger, means the person who, for the timebeing, is in occupation of suchpremises; (k) “owner”, in relation to the premises where an insanitary latrine exists orsomeone is employedas a manual scavenger, means, the person who, for the timebeing has legal title to such premises; (l) “prescribed” means prescribed by the rules made under this Act; (m) “railway authority” means an authority administering railway land, as maybe notified by theCentral Government in this behalf; (n) “railway land” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (32A) ofsection 2 of theRailways Act, 1989 (24 of 1989); (o) “sanitary latrine” means a latrine which is not an „insanitary latrine‟; (p) “septic tank” means a water-tight settling tank or chamber, normally locatedunderground,which is used to receive and hold human excreta, allowing it to decomposethrough bacterial activity; (q) “sewer” means an underground conduit or pipe for carrying off human excreta,besides otherwaste matter and drainage wastes; (r) “State Government”, in relation to a Union territory, means the Administratorthereofappointed under article 239 of the Constitution; (s) “survey” means a survey of manual scavengers undertaken in pursuance ofsection 11 orsection 14. (2) Words and expressions used and not defined in this Act, but defined in theCantonments Act, 2006(41 of 2006), shall have the same meanings respectively assigned to them in thatAct. (3) The reference to a Municipality under Chapters IV to VIII of this Act shall includea reference to,as the case may be, the Cantonment Board or the railway authority, in respectof areas included within thejurisdiction of the Cantonment Board and the railway land,respectively.

The provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstandinganything inconsistenttherewith contained in the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction ofDryLatrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 ( 46 of 1993) or in any other law, or in any instrument having effectbyvirtue of any other law.

(1)Every local authority shall, (a) carry out a survey of insanitary latrines existing within its jurisdiction, andpublish a list ofsuch insanitary latrines, in such manner as may be prescribed, withina period of two months from thedate of commencement of this Act; (b) give a notice to the occupier, within fifteen days from the date of publicationof the list underclause (a), to either demolish the insanitary latrine or convert it into asanitary latrine, within a periodof six months from the date of commencement of thisAct: Provided that the local authority may for sufficient reasons to be recorded inwriting extend thesaid period not exceeding three months; (c) construct, within a period not exceeding nine months from the date ofcommencement of thisAct, such number of sanitary community latrines as it considersnecessary, in the areas whereinsanitary latrines have been found. (2) Without prejudice to the provisions contained in sub-section (1), Municipalities,CantonmentBoards and railway authorities shall also construct adequate number of sanitarycommunity latrines,within such period not exceeding three years from the date ofcommencement of this Act, as theappropriate Government may, by notification, specify, soas to eliminate the practice of open defecationin their jurisdiction. (3) It shall be the responsibility of local authorities to construct community sanitarylatrines asspecified in sub-sections (1) and (2), and also to make arrangements for theirhygienic upkeep at alltimes. Explanation.For the purposes of this section, “community” in relation to railwayauthorities meanspassengers, staff and other authorised users of railways.

(1)Notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in the Employmentof Manual Scavengers andConstruction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 (46 of 1993), no person,local authority or anyagency shall, after the date of commencement of this Act, (a) construct an insanitary latrine; or (b) engage or employ, either directly or indirectly, a manual scavenger, and everyperson soengaged or employed shall stand discharged immediately from any obligation,express or implied, todo manual scavenging. (2) Every insanitary latrine existing on the date of commencement of this Act, shalleither bedemolished or be converted into a sanitary latrine, by the occupier at his own cost,before the expiry ofthe period so specified in clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 4: Provided that where there are several occupiers in relation to an insanitary latrine, theliability todemolish or convert it shall lie with, (a) the owner of the premises, in case one of the occupiers happens to be theowner; and (b) all the occupiers, jointly and severally, in all other cases: Provided that the State Government may give assistance for conversion of insanitarylatrines intosanitary latrines to occupiers from such categories of persons and on suchscale, as it may, by notification,specify: Provided further that non-receipt of State assistance shall not be a valid ground tomaintain or use aninsanitary latrine, beyond the said period of nine months. (3) If any occupier fails to demolish an insanitary latrine or convert it into a sanitarylatrine within theperiod specified in sub-section (2), the local authority having jurisdictionover the area in which suchinsanitary latrine is situated, shall, after giving notice of not lessthan twenty one days to the occupier,either convert such latrine into a sanitary latrine, ordemolish such insanitary latrine, and shall be entitledto recover the cost of such conversionor, as the case may be, of demolition, from such occupier in suchmanner as may be prescribed.