THE Bombay High Court recently issued a landmark judgment, affirming that the state bears the responsibility of providing compensation to the families of victims who die during manual scavenging in sewers even when the sanitation workers are privately employed for the task.

The court clarified that while the state may seek to recover this compensation from the private parties responsible for the criminal negligence, the immediate duty to provide a compensation of Rs3 million to each bereaved family rests with the state. The court noted that “the continued existence of manual scavenging is a serious blot on a civilised society and reflects the collective failure to completely eradicate this inhuman and degrading practice”.

Pakistan, on the contrary, continues to operate at the most cruel and barbaric end of this spectrum. It continues to send hundreds of sanitation workers into sewers and open drains. Twenty-two of them have died in the last six months alone. Most families receive either nothing or a negligible amount in compensation.

There should be a complete prohibition on manual scavenging and entry of workers into sewers. Why must the process of reform not begin by improving the lives of the downtrodden rather than increasing the salaries and perks of parliamentarians?

Naeem Sadiq
Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2026