The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (MS Act, 2013) is an Act of the Parliament of India that received the President's assent on September 18, 2013, and came into effect on December 6, 2013. It was created to correct the "historical injustice and indignity" suffered by manual scavengers, a practice deeply rooted in the caste system, and to uphold the right to live with dignity implicit in the Fundamental Rights under Part III of the Constitution. The Act replaced the less effective Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, which focused primarily on sanitation.
The Act's core mechanism is the absolute prohibition of employing any person for manual scavenging, which includes the manual cleaning, carrying, or handling of human excreta in insanitary latrines, open drains, pits, or on railway tracks. It also prohibits the construction of insanitary latrines and the hazardous manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective gear and cleaning devices. Violation of the prohibition on employment is a cognizable and non-bailable offense punishable under Section 8 with imprisonment up to two years or a fine up to ₹1 lakh, or both.
Key provisions focus on rehabilitation, requiring local authorities to conduct a survey to identify manual scavengers and provide them with a photo identity card, one-time cash assistance, and training in a livelihood skill with a monthly stipend of ₹3,000 during the training period. The Act connects directly to Article 17 (Abolition of Untouchability) and Article 21 (Protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution. A significant related concept is the Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA), a movement that campaigned for the eradication of the practice and whose petition led to the Supreme Court's involvement. The Supreme Court, in the landmark case of Safai Karamchari Andolan and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors., directed that the rehabilitation of identified manual scavengers must be done according to the provisions of the 2013 Act. The Act has been amended to omit the exception for the State of Jammu and Kashmir by the Act 34 of 2019. Furthermore, the Act mandates a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the heirs of manual scavengers who die while performing the work since 1993.