Government committed to ending manual scavenging: Minister

New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) The government was committed to ending the practice of manual scavenging, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot said Monday.

After meeting a group of liberated manual scavenger women at the Sulabh Gram here, Gehlot said the BJP-led government was committed to ending this "inhuman practice" without any delay and steps in this regard have already been initiated.

"Steps have already been taken to identify all such people involved in manual cleaning of toilets. A large number of manual scavengers have already been rehabilitated and now they are engaged in various other activities," a statement by NGO Sulabh International quoted the minister as saying.

Urging Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak to actively participate in the 'clean India' campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gehlot said there was a need to replicate the Sulabh toilet model to end open defecation in India.

Assuring full cooperation to the drive, Pathak said the NGO has already launched an intensive campaign to ensure total sanitation coverage.