Manual scavenging

Manual scavenging is a term used in India which refers to the removal of raw (fresh and untreated) human excreta from buckets or other containers that are used as toilets or from the pits of pit latrines. Manual scavenging involves the removal of raw human excreta using brooms and tin plates, and usually no personal protective equipment by the workers (called "scavengers") doing the job. The excreta are piled into baskets which the workers may carry on their heads to locations sometimes several kilometers from the latrines.

The employment of manual scavengers to empty "dry toilets" (meaning here toilets that require daily manual cleaning) was officially prohibited in India in 1993 and the law was extended and clarified to include insanitary latrines, ditches and pits in 2013.

According to Socio Economic Caste Census 2011, 180,657 households are engaged in manual scavenging for a livelihood. The 2011 Census of India found 794,000 cases of manual scavenging across India. The state of Maharashtra, with 63,713, tops the list with the largest number of households working as manual scavengers, followed by the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Karnataka.