END MANUAL SCAVENGING FOR GOOD AND FOR ALL

THE incidence of school students being made to clean a septic tank is not just shocking, but alarming too.

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It happened with students of classes seven to nine at Morarji Desai Residential School in Yeluvahalli, Karnataka, on December 1. Had a video of this act not gone viral a few days ago, it would have remained under wraps. It is worrisome that a school management ordered such an activity; even more so because the children were asked to do the job without safety gear. Many people have died around the country while cleaning manholes and sewers from asphyxiation upon inhaling excessive carbon monoxide. Despite 920 such deaths across India between 1993 and 2010, and 339 more recorded between 2018 and 2023, the school obviously ignored the dangers. Four people including the principal were suspended when the district and state authorities finally swung into action. A probe has been ordered and the state governm