Manual scavenging endures in India despite being outlawed in 2013. 2 hours ago Women from Dalit castes continue using their hands to clean and scrape faeces and carry it away from upper-caste homes. | M Palani Kimar, Pep Collective Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked October 2, 2020, Gandhi Jayanti, as the day he would declare India “manual scavenging free”. When Bezwada Wilson, convener of the Safai Karamchari Andolan, an advocacy group, learnt of the decision, he submitted data to the government on manual scavengers, who, even after Swachh Bharat, were still cleaning dry and insanitary latrines. In September, at a meeting, chief secretaries from various states were asked if it was still feasible to declare India free of manual scavenging, the outlawed practice of cleaning sewers, septic tanks, railways tracks and other receptacles of human and other waste.