Delhi HC directs payment of Rs 30 lakh compensation to widow of sanitation worker

Delhi HC directs authorities to take necessary measures for the rehabilitation of the victims and their families.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the city government to pay compensation of Rs 30 lakh to the widow of a sanitation worker who died during manual scavenging.

Justice Subramonium Prasad allowed the widow's plea seeking enhancement of the compensation awarded to her in terms of a recent Supreme Court order which enhanced the compensation payable to the dependents of the victims who had lost their lives in manual scavenging to Rs 30 lakh from Rs 10 lakh.

The judge said that the top court's decision would apply to the present case as well and ordered, "The writ petition is disposed of with a direction to the state government to implement the said judgment in the present case also."

"The orders of the apex court shall apply mutatis mutandis to the facts of this case and shall be implemented within a period of two months from today," the court recently ordered.

The petitioner told the court that she had already been given compensation of Rs 10 lakh but the same should be increased to Rs 30 lakh in view of the Supreme Court's decision.

She also sought directions to the authorities to provide full rehabilitation, including employment to her, education to her children and skill training.

Observing that manual scavengers have lived in bondage, systematically trapped in inhuman conditions for a long time, the Supreme Court had in October asked the Centre and state governments to completely eradicate manual scavenging across the country.

Passing a slew of directions for the benefit of people involved in manual scavenging, it had asked the central and state governments to pay Rs 30 lakh as compensation to the next of kin of those who die while cleaning sewers.

"The court hereby directs the Union and the States to ensure that the compensation for sewer deaths is increased (given that the previous amount fixed, i.e., Rs. 10 lakh) was made applicable from 1993. The current equivalent of that amount is Rs 30 lakh. This shall be the amount to be paid, by the concerned agency, i.e., the Union, the Union Territory or the State as the case may be. In other words, compensation for sewer deaths shall be Rs 30 lakh," the Supreme Court had ordered.

It had also said that the authorities needed to take measures for the rehabilitation of the victims and their families.