NEW DELHI: Sewer and septic tank cleaning work is an occupation based activity rather than caste, the government said on Wednesday even as over 90 per cent of septic tank workers belong to the SC, ST or OBC categories.
In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said out of 54,574 validated sewer and septic tank workers profiled under the 'National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem' (NAMASTE) scheme, 37,060 (67 per cent) are from the SC category.
The statistics further show that 15.73 per cent of the workers belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 8.31 per cent are from the Scheduled Tribes (STs), while only 8.05 per cent come from the General category.
In total, 57,758 workers across 33 States and Union Territories have been profiled, out of which 54,574 have been validated. Data integration for states like Odisha and Tamil Nadu into the central NAMASTE database is currently underway.
"Sewer and septic tank cleaning work is an occupation based activity rather than caste based," he said in a written response.