The General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee, former Union Minister, former State President of Haryana Congress Committee, and member of the Congress working committee, Kumari Selja said that an immediate complete ban should be imposed when workers enter STP and sewer lines in the state. Young sanitation workers from poor families are continuously losing their lives by entering sewer lines or tanks. This is happening due to the anti-worker policies of the BJP-JJP alliance government. The state government should make it mandatory to use robots for STP, sewer line, and other cleaning tasks so that people’s lives can be saved.
In a statement released to the media, Kumari Selja said that manual scavengers and workers are banned from entering STP or sewer lines under the Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. Nevertheless, every year, laborers from poor families who come to work in these areas are losing their lives. This indicates that the BJP-JJP alliance government is completely opposed to the welfare of poor sanitation workers. Gas-related accidents have been happening continuously after entering STP and sewer lines, but the state government has not woken up from its deep slumber even after this. The state government should immediately impose a ban on the entry of sanitation workers into STP and sewer lines and change their cleaning methods. The laws created for sanitation workers in STP and sewer lines are neither being implemented in government departments nor is any pressure being put on contractors to follow the laws. The Bjp-Jjp state government is responsible for the deaths of two youths in the STP of Gurugram’s Rehja Navoday Society. Kumari Selja said that today is the era of robots, the era of artificial intelligence. Despite this, the
state government is not using these technologies in the cleaning of sewer lines and STP. The Pradesh government should get satellite mapping of sewer lines and use 3D technology for their cleaning, taking help from robots if necessary, to save people’s lives. Kumari Selja said that on one hand, the BJP government is making efforts to digitize the country’s system, while on the other angel, it is undermining the system of sanitation of the old times and is working against the lives of sanitation workers. She said that the Prime Minister is going abroad and criticizing the policies and practices of the BJP, but even today, the true nature of corruption can be seen on the ground. The country’s democracy is based on the whole society, but the BJP’s democracy is based on dictatorship and repressive policies, for which the government will have to pay the price. She said that due to the lack of strong action against responsible officers and companies for bringing sanitation workers into STP, tanks, and sewer lines, their morale is high, and they are repeatedly violating the rules