Last Updated on July 27, 2026 9:30 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Staff Reporter | New Delhi
The Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) has alleged that the Union Government underreported deaths caused by sewer and septic tank cleaning, claiming that 261 fatalities have been omitted from official records presented in Parliament.
According to the organisation, while Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale informed Parliament on July 21 that 332 people had died in sewer and septic tank incidents between January 2021 and June 2026, SKA’s own records show that 593 people lost their lives during the same period.
The organisation said the discrepancy means that 261 deaths have not been reflected in the government’s official figures. It further claimed that 113 workers have died in sewer and septic tank accidents in 2026 alone, including 15 deaths recorded this month.
Calling the alleged underreporting “criminal” and “shameful”, SKA said the omission effectively renders hundreds of victims and their families “invisible” instead of acknowledging the scale of the problem.
The organisation said it has submitted representations to Members of Parliament, urging them to raise the issue in Parliament and seek an explanation for what it described as the manipulation and minimisation of official death data. It argued that the continued deaths of sanitation workers constitute a matter of national concern and reflect the persistence of caste-based discrimination and unsafe manual cleaning practices.
SKA also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to acknowledge what it called a failure to prevent sewer and septic tank deaths and to take immediate corrective measures.
Among its key demands, the organisation called for the constitution of a Parliamentary Standing Committee inquiry into sewer and septic tank deaths, with annual reports to Parliament detailing fatalities, prosecutions, compensation and rehabilitation measures.
It also sought a time-bound national action plan to eliminate sewer and septic tank deaths and urged the government to review the effectiveness of the NAMASTE (National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem) Scheme. According to SKA, the scheme has failed to prevent fatalities, alleging that sewer and septic tank deaths have continued to rise even after its introduction.
The government has not yet responded to the allegations made by the organisation.