Telangana: If GHMC, Water Board disown, then who will pay the compensation?

Hyderabad: The Chief Justice Bench of Telangana High Court on Monday directed Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar to appear before it on March 7, if the State failed to file an affidavit duly furnishing information on the steps taken by it on the number of manual scavengers died in the State while performing their work, whether compensation of Rs 10 lakh was paid to the dependants of the deceased scavengers, whether a survey was taken up by the State to identify them, whether State had taken steps to ensure that manual scavenger system was stopped in the State or not.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinand Kumar Shavili adjudicated the Suo motu taken up PIL based on a news report published in an English daily, which reported the pathetic condition of two sanitation workers who died in December 2021, while cleaning a septic tank at Kondapur, Hyderabad.

The Chief Justice was irked when the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board informed the court that these two departments have no role to play in paying Rs 10 lakh compensation to the dependents of two deceased manual scavengers. The Chief Justice, while turning towards both the government counsels, observed that if both the departments disown the aspect of payment of compensation to the dependants of the deceased, then who will pay?

Further, the Chief Justice directed Chief Secretary to file a detailed counter affidavit reply within 10 days or appear before it on March 7. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court verdict and judgements of other High Courts say that the State should take up a survey of all the manual scavengers in their respective State, identify them, provide alternative employment and pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the dependents of deceased manual scavengers. In this issue, though the incident occurred in December 2021, till today, the State has not taken any steps to pay the comp6ensation to the dependents of two deceased manual scavengers.