The Centre today said it was "trying" to get the number of manual scavengers from states, which have already been told to submit their details, as it put their count close to three lakh in the country.
The hazardous practice of manual scavenging has been banned under the law. The Supreme Court had also directed all the states and union territories to completely ban it.
"We do not know what was the reason behind the states not furnishing the information (about manual scavengers)... We are trying to get the information from the state governments," Union Social Justice Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot said when asked that several states are yet to provide the information on manual scavengers.
He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a one- day workshop on 'Corporate Social Responsibility: Swacch Swasth Samruddh Bharat Ki Aur' here.
The Minister said that there would be around three lakh manual scavengers in the country, if one goes by the 2011 census on insanitary toilets.
"As per the Census of 2011, there are around 26 lakh insanitary toilets... If one goes by this figure, there would be about three lakh manual scavengers, who lift the night soil using their hands," Gehlot said, while adding that the Centre wanted all of them to be relieved from this profession.
Earlier, addressing the gathering on the occasion, he also highlighted Government's initiatives for rehabilitating manual scavengers.
Speaking about the commercial driving license training programme for women hailing from Safai Karamchari families, the minister said, bus operators and cab agencies have been approached for recruitment of trained women.
"Trained women would be provided financial support on completion of their training. Besides, bus operators and cab agencies have been approached for placements. They have also assured that the trained women would be provided with jobs," Gehlot added.
A total of 250 women belonging to Safai Karamchari families in Delhi have been selected for the training programme and stipend is also offered to them during the training period of seven months.
