Clean house: on India's septic tank desludging
India's real problem is enforcement. Industry members have said most underground infrastructure can be cleaned robotically if capital subsidies and operator training expand, yet government tenders often solicit manual bids. Most emergency response sanitation units are paper tigers. Only ₹14 crore has been released so far under the NAMASTE scheme, insufficient to mechanise sewer cleaning in even one major city. In the event of a worker death, police routinely book the lowest ranking supervisor or classify the death as an accident. The Supreme Court has asked for offending contracts to be cancelled and monetary liabilities imposed on principal employers, but local bodies are still to notify such rules. Two-thirds of validated workers are also Dalits, yet rehabilitation packages rarely include housing or scholarships that might help families exit contemptible occupations. Women who still sweep dry latrines receive even less policy attention. Among other measures, urban local bodies must mechanise sewer-cleaning post haste, and make it a licensed trade, and operating without a valid certificate a cognisable offence. Loans for workers to operate the machines that replace manual entry should be upscaled and linked to guaranteed service contracts from municipalities. Finally, the national government should include septic tank desludging under the Swachh Bharat rural budget and extend NAMASTE profiling to gram panchayats.
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