Manual scavenging still prevalent

BANGALORE: In a shocking revelation, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Karnataka, on Tuesday presented a documented evidence that the practice of manual scavenging is widely prevalent all over the State. “We have documented everything. It has been brought to the notice of the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission (HRC) and the government officials. PUCL also has a PIL pending in High Court,” said Y J Rajendra, convener, PUCL, told reporters at a press conference. A random check in 23 districts, conducted after manual scavenging incidents in Savanur, has revealed that the issue is still major in KGF (Kolar district), Alur (Hassan district) and Kinnigolli (near Mangalore), he claimed. Rajendra informed that after People’s Union for Civil Liberties submitted a report on the recent KGF incident, the Human Rights Commission visited the place and also issued orders related to the issue. “However, the orders of the Karnataka State Human Rights Commission  have not been considered by the district administrators. The State government is ignoring the issue,” Rajendra alleged. “We conducted the checks in the month of June. We witnessed the horrific situation in some of the villages, where upper castes and the system had oppressed lower castes into this inhuman practice. Strict action is required on the issue,” Rajendra observed.