Mangalore: The monthly meeting on SC/ST grievances held on Sunday (Nov 27) at the City Commissioner of Police office in Pandeshwar was devoted to the burning topic of continued manual scavenging seen in areas of Mangalore city. The city corporation was engaging leaders who launched on attach on the in human system prevailing in part city, in modern days. They demanded police attention.

DSS leader S.P. Anand pointed out that the state Government had imposed a ban on this degrading in human method of keeping city clean, yet the MCC backed the old system, when sanitary materials were available in city for all houses.

It shows MCC has failed to improve the system of disposing of bio-waste, in its drainage ponds cleaning system in city.  This came to the attention of local citizens in Bundev area on last Friday (Nov 25), Anand said. He wanted the entire manual scavenging sanitary system in NCC limits to be banned totally.

Moreover, the family doing such dangerous work in a manhole, does not get adequate compensation for the work done at the risk of one’s life, due to shortness of breath or disease. Only machineries should be used for sanitation works, he argued.

Another leader P. Keshava stated that only SC/ST people are exploited in this regard by entrusting such dirty work to them. Let them be on full-time basis, and not on hire.

A Dalit member Shekhar asked if the police had dealt with Neelaiah Malekudiya’s death case in Belthangady properly. A wrong dose of medicine in A.J. Hospital killed Neelaiah but 5 Dalits were booked by Kadri Police for protesting, while the doctor was not arrested at all.

DCP (Law and order) Muthuraya admitted that there was a ban on manual scavenging and the city police would take suo moto action if an order is violated in MCC. ACP Jagannath assured that a missing Dalit woman Sunitha is still under police search.