AAP says govt. apathy led to pourakarmika’s death

The Aam Aadmi Party said in Mysuru on Tuesday that the death of a pourakarmika due to asphyxiation after he entered a manhole to clean the UGD is not just unfortunate but unforgiveable. Itargued that

The Aam Aadmi Party said in Mysuru on Tuesday that the death of a pourakarmika due to asphyxiation after he entered a manhole to clean the UGD is not just unfortunate but unforgiveable. Itargued that the death would not have occurred if the government had strictly implemented the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act, 2013.

In a statement here, AAP Mysuru president Malavika Gubbivani said the decision to send the pourakarmika into the manhole is unfortunate and the town municipal council and/or the government must rehabilitate the aggrieved family by providing them a government job. Strict action must also be taken against the person who made him enter the manhole, she demanded.

“Such incidents are happening regularly and those violating the Act are never being punished. The government has totally failed in implementing this Act. Another reason for recurrence of such incidents is that the local bodies have failed to procure enough sucking machines for cleaning the manholes,” the statement said.