Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993
No: 46 Dated: Jun, 05 1993
Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993
(Act No. 46 of 1993)
An Act to provide for the prohibition of employment of manual scavengers as well as construction or continuance of dry latrines and for the regulation of construction and maintenance of water-seal latrines and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Whereas fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual has been enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution;
And whereas article 47 of the Constitution, inter alia, provides, that the State shall regard raising the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties;
And whereas the dehumanising practice of manual scavenging of human excreta still continues in many parts of the country;
And whereas the municipal laws by themselves as a measure for conversion of dry latrines into water-seal latrines and prevention of construction of dry latrines are not stringent enough to eliminate this practice;
And whereas it is necessary to enact a uniform legislation for the whole of India for abolishing manual scavenging by declaring employment of manual scavengers for removal of human excreta an offence and thereby ban the further proliferation of dry latrines in the country;
And whereas it is desirable for eliminating the dehumanising practice of employment of manual scavengers and for protecting and improving the human environment to make it obligatory to convert dry latrines into water-seal latrines or to construct water-seal latrines in new constructions;
And whereas Parliament has no power to make laws for the States with respect to the matters aforesaid, except as provided in articles 249 and 250 of the Constitution;
And whereas in pursuance of clause (1) of article 252 of the Constitution, resolutions have been passed by all the Houses of the Legislatures of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tripura and West Bengal that the matters aforesaid should be regulated in those States by Parliament by law;
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
CHAPTER I
Preliminary
1. Short title, application and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993.
(2) It applies in the first instance to the whole of the States of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tripura and West Bengal and to all the Union territories and it shall also apply to such other State which adopts this Act by resolution passed in that behalf under clause (1) of article 252 of the Constitution.
(3) It shall come into force in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tripura and West Bengal and in the Union territories on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification, appoint and in any other State which adopts this Act under clause (1) of article 252 of the Constitution, on the date of such adoption.
2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “area”, in relation to any provision of this Act, means such area as the State Government may, having regard to the requirements of that provision, specify by notification;
(b) “building” means a house, out-house, stable, latrine, urinal, sheet house, hut, wall (other than a boundary wall) or any other structure whether made of masonry, bricks, wood, mud, metal or other material;
(c) “dry latrine” means a latrine other than a water-seal latrine;
(d) “environment” includes water, air and land and the inter-relationship which exists among and between water, air and land and human beings, other living creatures, plants, micro-organism and property;
(e) “environmental pollutant” means any solid, liquid or gaseous substance present in such concentration as may be, or tend to be, injurious to environment;
(f) “environmental pollution” means the presence in the environment of any environmental pollutant;
(g) “Executive Authority” means an Executive Authority appointed under sub-section (1) of section 5;
(h) “HUDCO” means the Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited, a Government company registered by that name under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956);
(i) “latrine” means a place set apart for defecation together with the structure comprising such place, the receptacle therein for collection of human excreta and the fittings and apparatus, if any, connected therewith;
(j) “manual scavenger” means a person engaged in or employed for manually carrying human excreta and the expression “manual scavenging” shall be construed accordingly;
(k) “notification” means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
(l) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(m) “State Government”, in relation to a Union territory, means the Administrator thereof appointed under article 239 of the Constitution;
(n) “water-seal latrine” means a pour-flush latrine, water flush latrine or a sanitary latrine with a minimum water-seal of 20 millimetres diameter in which human excreta is pushed in or flushed by water
CHAPTER II
PROHIBITION OF EMPLOYMENT OF MANUAL SCAVENGERS, ETC.
3. Prohibition of employment of manual scavengers, etc.—(1) Subject to sub-section (2) and the other provisions of this Act, with effect from such date and in such area as the State Government may, by notification, specify in this behalf, no person shall—
(a) engage in or employ for or permit to be engaged in or employed for any other person for manually carrying human excreta; or
(b) construct or maintain a dry latrine.
(2) The State Government shall not issue a notification under sub-section (1) unless—
(i) it has, by notification, given not less than ninety days’ notice of its intention to do so;
(ii) adequate facilities for the use of water-seal latrines in that area exist; and
(iii) it is necessary or expedient to do so for the protection and improvement of the environment or public health in that area.