The provision of employment as manual scavengers and their rehabilitation rules 2013”provides that there shall be no restriction regarding the caste for being identified as manual scavengers. However, surveys have been carried out as per the provisions of MS Act, 2013 for identification of manual scavengers. During these surveys 58098 manual scavengers have been identified as per the criteria prescribed under the above Act. As per the information provided by the identified manual scavengers, caste related data is available in respect of 43,797 manual scavengers. Category-wise break-up of number of manual scavengers is as follows:-
| Category | No. of Manual Scavengers |
| Scheduled Castes | 42,594 |
| Scheduled Tribes | 421 |
| Other Backwards Classes | 431 |
| Others | 351 |
Government is implementing a Central Sector Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS). The scheme have following main provisions for providing assistance to the identified manual scavengers for their rehabilitations:-
i. One Time Cash Assistance of Rs. 40,00/- to one identified manual scavenger in the family
ii. Skill Development Training of manual scavengers and their dependants upto two years with stipend @ Rs. 3,000/- per month during the training period.
iii. Capital Subsidy upto Rs. 5.00 lakh for those who availed loans for Self Employment Projects including sanitation related projects.
iv. Health insurance under Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) to the families of all the identified manual scavengers.
The following are the achievements of coverage of manual scavengers and their dependants under the Scheme:-
| S. No. | Provision | Coverage |
| 1. | One Time Cash Assistance of Rs. 40,000 | 58098 |
| 2. | Skill Development Training | 18,199 |
| 3. | Capital Subsidy for Self Employment projects | 1562 |
Manual scavenging as defined under Section 2(1) (g) of the “Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (MS Act, 2013)” is prohibited with effect from 6.12.2013. No person or agency can engage or employ any person for manual scavenging from the above date. Any person or agency who engages any person for manual scavenging in violation of the provisions of the MS Act, 2013 is punishable under Section 8 of the above Act, with imprisonment upto 2 years of fine upto Rs. One Lakh or both.
This information was given by The Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment Shri. Ramdas Athawale in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
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