Newly developed robot to transform lives of manual scavenging practitioners
Indian scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Tamil Nadu have come up with a robot, called- ' HomoSEP ' that could save and transform the lives of manual scavengers and help in terminating the inhumane practicing of manual scavenging forever. As per census, 2011, around 794,000 cases of manual scavenging were reported across India. The state of Maharashtra topped the chart with a score of 63,173 cases; the other states that followed the list were: Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Karnataka. Manual scavenging is a term primarily used for carrying/cleaning human excreta or disposals from an open drain or from a septic tank/sewer with the use of hands manually. In the year 2013, the definition and expression of the term 'manual scavenger' expanded. It depicted the persons or the people engaged or employed at the commencement of this Act or anytime thereafter, by any local authority/agency or by a contractor, for manually cleaning/carryin