Editorials: 25-July-2025

The Hindu Editorials

 ​Clean house: On India’s septic tank desludging

Septic tank desludging must be mechanised completely

Behind the hazardous (1) cleaning deaths of 150 people in 2022 and 2023, a social audit of 54 of which the Ministry of Social Justice has tabled in Parliament, lies a deleterious (2) business model. Local contractors had hired 38; only five were on a government payroll. The rest were public sector workers ‘loaned’ to private employers, obscuring (3) liability. Progress on this front has lagged (4) despite the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act of 2013 (PEMSR). The Union government piloted (5) a scheme in 2020 to fully mechanise septic tank desludging in 243 cities. However, its success rests not only on technology but on enforcement (6), planning, training, and financial commitment by States and local bodies.

A new survey by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) across 51 cities reveals poor progress — fewer than half of the surveyed cities have contractor registration mechanisms or use standard operating procedures. Equipment is available in many cities but not all frontline workers have access to it. Most cities fail to solicit (7) detailed work reports and have no provisions to punish violators. Where technology exists, it is rendered ineffective by a contemptible (8) unwillingness to follow procedure.

CSE suggests making violations of safety rules a cognisable (9) offence. Even though mechanised desludging (10) vehicles exist, municipalities often cite inaccessibility in narrow lanes and continue to engage labourers in risky conditions.

A slow revival: On the state of India-China ties                      

In yet another reminder that cities in India are not safe (1) for women, a 19-year-old woman was sexually assaulted by two men in a moving car in Gurugram, Haryana. She had boarded the vehicle believing it was a cab she had booked. The car was stopped only after the police, informed by a passer-by, intercepted it. The woman was found to be unconscious and injured. Both the suspects were arrested and charged under the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act. This crime comes soon after a 20-year-old woman in Delhi was drugged and sexually assaulted by five men, including her friend, who also filmed the act. The woman said she was told the video would be used to blackmail (2) her. Last week, a man working for a food delivery service in Mumbai was arrested after he sexually harassed a woman customer and sent her lewd texts. According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s Crime in India 2022 report, the prevalence (3) of crime against women in metropolitan cities is alarmingly high, with the rate (4) of such crimes calculated at 49.8 per one lakh population. Delhi is notorious (5) for the highest number of crimes against women. The reasons are not hard to find. Patriarchal attitudes, weak enforcement (6) of laws, and delays in justice have contributed to the confidence of perpetrators. Further, political patronage (7) and poor police functioning have eroded public trust. Crimes against women, especially of a sexual nature, often go unreported, and victim-blaming (8) is widespread. From the police to the courts, women often face hostility (9) when they report crimes. Unfortunately, the Justice Verma Committee’s 2013 recommendations on police reforms and gender sensitivity have not been implemented in full. Safety must not become a luxury for women — it is a constitutional right. India’s cities will never be truly developed if half the population lives in fear. The response to such violence must be swift (10) and effective. It is crucial to improve policing, fast-track justice, and ensure better training and sensitisation.

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