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Know your rights

The law is by your side

The MS Act 2013 and Supreme Court rulings guarantee specific rights to every sanitation worker and their family. Most people never claim them because no one tells them they exist.

I am a sanitation worker Find out what benefits and protections you are legally entitled to under the MS Act 2013. View my rights → A family member has died Find out what compensation the law guarantees your family and how to claim it before it is taken from you. View compensation rights → I am an employer Find out what the law requires of you and the penalties for non-compliance or death on site. View employer obligations →
For sanitation workers

What the government owes you

These are not requests or promises. They are legal entitlements under the MS Act 2013 and SRMS scheme. If you have been identified as a manual scavenger, you are owed all of the following.

₹40,000 Cash Assistance

One-time payment to every identified manual scavenger. One per family. No repayment required.

Free Skill Training

Training in a trade of your choice, free of cost, with ₹3,000/month paid to your bank account while you train.

Business Loan

Up to ₹15 lakhs to start your own business. Half the cost is a government subsidy you never have to repay.

Health Insurance

You and your family are covered under Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY for 5 years from identification.

Education Loan for children

Your children can access an education loan of up to ₹10 lakhs for study in India and ₹20 lakhs for study abroad, at just 6% interest.

Check eligibility →
For families

If someone you love died in a sewer

You are entitled to ₹30 lakhs. The Supreme Court said so in 2014. You are not required to accept less, no matter what a contractor or police officer tells you.

01

Do not sign anything

Employers or contractors may ask you to sign documents — releases, settlements, NDAs — in exchange for money. Do not sign. Anything you sign may waive your right to compensation. Wait for legal support first.

02

Document what you know

Write down or voice-record everything you know: the employer's name, the location, who was present, what tools were or weren't provided, and what you were told.

03

Get legal support now

Saatchi connects you to legal aid partners who will represent you before the negotiation begins, not after it is already over.

Get Legal Aid now →
For employers and contractors

What the law requires &
what it punishes

The MS Act 2013 places legal responsibility directly on employers.
Subcontracting does not remove your liability.

Your obligations
  • Provide all 44 mandated protective equipment items to every worker deployed near a sewer or septic tank
  • Maintain formal employment records and issue identity documentation to every worker
  • Use mechanised cleaning alternatives
  • Report every sewer entry and any incidents to the relevant municipal authority
  • Informal cash settlements paid to families do not discharge your legal liability
Penalties for non-compliance

First offence

Up to 1 year imprisonment and a fine of ₹50,000

Repeat Offence

Up to 2 years imprisonment and a fine of ₹1,00,000

If the worker suffered a permanent disability

A minimum of ₹20,00,000 compensation

If a worker dies

Up to 5 years imprisonment and mandatory ₹30,00,000 compensation to the family

Reclassifying a sewer death as an “accident” to avoid prosecution is itself a criminal offence under the Act.

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