BJP MLC: those who clean manholes contract HIV/AIDS

Even as the fight against manual scavenging rages on, despite its abolition, a BJP legislator has given a new twist to this inhuman practice.

BJP MLC D S Veeraiah on Wednesday said that manual scavengers were contracting HIV/AIDS while cleaning manholes.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, a day after two men died of asphyxiation while cleaning a clogged septic tank of a hotel in the city, Veeraiah said: "Those who clean manholes contract AIDS. Pourakarmikas are dying even before they turn 30 or 40. The government should formulate more rigorous laws to end manual scavenging. A new law is the need of the hour."

Veeraiah said that the BJP's Slum Morcha and SC Morcha would stage a protest in Bengaluru on Thursday, condemning the deaths of those who take up manual scavenging works.

He also demanded stringent action against the owners of YumLok, the hotel which had hired two workers, Ramu and Ravi, to clear a clogged drain; and BBMP officials.

He said that the government should guarantee permanent jobs to the kin of the victims in addition to a minimum compensation of Rs 10 lakh.