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Sewer and septic tank deaths

How many sanitation workers does the government count as dying in sewers and septic tanks, and do its own answers agree?

By The Dalit ProjectUPDATED OCTOBER 20, 2026

Key takeaways

  • The government’s count records 859 deaths in sewers and septic tanks from 2014 to 2025. Exhibit 1
  • From 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026, a later answer counts 332 deaths in 18 States and Union Territories (UTs). Exhibit 2
  • The States lodged 110 First Information Reports (FIRs) over 166 deaths, with fewer FIRs than deaths in 6 States; for 4 the answer gives no FIR figure. Exhibit 3
  • For 2025 alone, an answer in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, counts 43 deaths (as on 31 December 2025) and one in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house, of 29 July 2026 counts 47; neither says why they differ. Exhibit 4
  • Two answers give different counts for overlapping years: 162 deaths for 2023 to 2025, and 166 for the “last three years”. A third gives 332 for 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026, a period that takes in all of 2021 to 2025, years for which Question 541’s rows add up to 312. Exhibit 4
  • As on 31 December 2025, compensation had not been released in 46 cases, 30 of them from 2024 and 2025. Exhibit 5
  • From 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026, a Rajya Sabha answer counts 332 deaths, 268 under “full compensation paid”, 18 under “partial compensation paid” and 193 FIRs lodged. Exhibit 6
  • A Lok Sabha answer of 4 August 2026 gives deaths by year from 2019 to 30 June 2026 with the compensation recorded for them: for 2025, 20 of 47 deaths are under “compensation not confirmed”. Exhibit 7
  • For 2019, 2020 and 2025, that answer’s count differs from an earlier one’s: 132 against 131 for 2019, 34 against 40 for 2020, 47 against 43 for 2025. Exhibit 11

The government’s counts of sanitation workers who died in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, all India and by State and Union Territory (UT), with compensation cases and the workers profiled under the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE), as 9 written answers to unstarred questions (questions answered in writing, with no debate on the floor) in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the lower and upper houses of India’s Parliament, from 17 December 2024 to 5 August 2026 give them. Each figure is shown with the question it comes from. Beside them are the counts kept by two civil-society organisations, the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), a national movement of sanitation workers for the eradication of manual scavenging, and the Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), a Dalit and Adivasi rights platform, as 7 news reports from 26 March 2026 to 17 August 2026 carry them, each named with its organisation and the outlet.

deaths in sewers and septic tanks, 2014 to 2025, the government’s count (Question 541)
859
cases where compensation had not been released, as on 31 December 2025
46
of validated sewer and septic tank workers recorded as Scheduled Caste under NAMASTE, 17 December 2024
67.9%

  1. Exhibit 1

    The government’s count records 859 deaths in sewers and septic tanks from 2014 to 2025, and no fewer than 40 in any year

    Sanitation workers who died in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, all India, by year, 2014 to 2025, as the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) counted them on 31 December 2025.

    Note: These are the deaths NCSK recorded. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541 does not say how a death comes to be recorded. Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 1250 gives 47 deaths for 2025; both counts are set side by side below.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541, answered 3 February 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 7), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  2. Exhibit 2

    From 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026, the government counts 332 deaths in 18 States and UTs, the most in Maharashtra (58)

    Sanitation workers who died in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, by State/UT, 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026, as Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2562 gives them on 4 August 2026.

    • Deaths
    • Under 5
    • 5–9
    • 10–19
    • 20 and over
    • No figure

    Note: The answer lists only these 18 States and UTs. A State or UT it does not list has no figure here; the answer does not say it had no deaths. A State or UT with 1 to 4 deaths is shown as “fewer than 5”, so a small count cannot point to the people who died. Dadra and Nagar Haveli is shown on the tile for Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, the UT it is now part of. The same answer says “No death has been reported due to manual scavenging”; these are the deaths it gives for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2562, answered 4 August 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 8), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  3. Exhibit 3

    The States lodged 110 FIRs over 166 deaths; in 6 States FIRs number fewer than deaths, and for 4 the answer gives no FIR figure

    Deaths and FIRs lodged, by State/UT, “during last three years”, as Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1520 gives them.

    1. MaharashtraDeathsFIRs lodged29 and 18
    2. Tamil Nadu21 and 8
    3. Uttar Pradesh21 and 13
    4. Rajasthan20 and 20
    5. Haryana14 and 14
    6. Gujarat13 and fewer than 5 FIRs
    7. Delhi12 and 12
    8. Punjab10 and 9
    9. West Bengal7 and 7
    10. Madhya Pradesh6 and 5
    11. Karnataka5 and no FIR figure

    Note: The answer does not say how FIRs relate to deaths, so the two counts need not match. Where the answer prints “-” for FIRs, no figure is shown. Counts of 1 to 4 are shown as “fewer than 5”, and Bihar, Goa, Jharkhand and Telangana, with fewer than 5 deaths each, are in the table only. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1520 was also asked for convictions; the answer gives none.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1520, answered 28 July 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 8), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  4. Exhibit 4

    Five answers from the same ministry count deaths over overlapping periods: 162 for 2023 to 2025 and 312 for 2021 to 2025 in Question 541, 166 for the “last three years” in Question 1520, 332 for 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026 in Question 2562, and 498 for 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2026 by Question 2730’s year rows; for 2025 alone, Question 541 gives 43; Rajya Sabha Question 1250 and Question 2730 give 47

    Deaths in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, all India, each count as its answer gives it. They are not reconciled here. A question not named as a Rajya Sabha question is a Lok Sabha question.

    QuestionAnsweredPeriod the answer givesDeaths
    Lok Sabha Unstarred 5413 February 20262023 to 2025 (as on 31 December 2025)162
    Lok Sabha Unstarred 152028 July 2026“last three years”166
    Lok Sabha Unstarred 5413 February 20262021 to 2025 (as on 31 December 2025)312
    Lok Sabha Unstarred 25624 August 20261 January 2021 to 30 June 2026332
    Lok Sabha Unstarred 27304 August 20261 January 2021 to 30 June 2026 (sum of its year rows)332
    Lok Sabha Unstarred 27304 August 20261 January 2019 to 30 June 2026 (sum of its year rows)498
    Lok Sabha Unstarred 5413 February 20262025 (as on 31 December 2025)43
    Rajya Sabha Unstarred 125029 July 2026202547
    Lok Sabha Unstarred 27304 August 2026202547
    Lok Sabha Unstarred 27304 August 20262026, up to 30 June 202616

    Note: Question 1520 gives its period only as “last three years” and does not name the months, so the periods overlap but may not be the same. Question 2562’s period, 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026, takes in all of 2021 to 2025 and runs on to 30 June 2026, past Question 541’s count as on 31 December 2025. Question 2730, answered the same day as Question 2562, gives 16 deaths for 2026, up to 30 June 2026, as a year row of its own. Question 541’s figures add up its own year rows (2021: 62, 2022: 88, 2023: 65, 2024: 54, 2025: 43), and so do Question 2730’s (2019: 132, 2020: 34, 2021: 62, 2022: 88, 2023: 65, 2024: 54, 2025: 47, 2026, up to 30 June 2026: 16); Question 2730’s table prints no total. From 2021, its year rows add up to 332, the same as Question 2562’s total for 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026. For 2019 and 2020, Question 541 (answered 3 February 2026, as on 31 December 2025) and Question 2730 (answered 4 August 2026) give different counts (2019: 131 and 132; 2020: 40 and 34); neither says why. For 2025, Question 541 gives 43 deaths, Rajya Sabha Question 1250 (answered 29 July 2026) gives 47 and Question 2730 gives 47; no answer says why the counts differ. Rajya Sabha Question 2048 (answered 5 August 2026) gives the same 332 deaths for 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026 as Question 2562, with the same count for every State and UT.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541 (3 February 2026), Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 1520 (28 July 2026), Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2562 (4 August 2026), Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730 (4 August 2026), Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 1250 (29 July 2026) and Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 2048 (5 August 2026), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  5. Exhibit 5

    As on 31 December 2025, compensation had not been released to the legal heirs or dependants in 46 cases; 30 of them are from 2024 and 2025

    Cases where compensation had not been released to the legal heirs or dependants, by year, 2014 to 2025.

    1. 2014Given as “-”
    2. 22015
    3. 2016Not listed
    4. 2017Not listed
    5. 32018
    6. 42019
    7. 2020Not listed
    8. 2021Not listed
    9. 32022
    10. 42023
    11. 152024
    12. 152025

    Note: Years the answer does not list have no figure; the answer prints “-” for 2014. No answer used here gives the total amount of compensation paid.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541, answered 3 February 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 7), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  6. Exhibit 6

    From 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026, a Rajya Sabha answer counts 332 deaths, 268 under “full compensation paid”, 18 under “partial compensation paid” and 193 FIRs lodged

    All India, 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2026, as Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 2048 gives them on 5 August 2026, under the answer’s own column names.

    What the answer countsCount
    Deaths332
    Full compensation paid268
    Partial compensation paid18
    First Information Reports (FIRs) lodged193

    Note: These are the totals the answer prints for its State/UT rows. The answer does not say whether the compensation columns count deaths, families or payments, or what makes a payment partial, and it gives no amounts, so nothing is worked out from them. Asked for the number of inspections and of prosecutions against contractors, agencies and officials, the answer says “No such data is maintained centrally”. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541’s count of cases where compensation had not been released is a different measure, for a different period, and is shown on its own above.

    Source: Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 2048, answered 5 August 2026 (Rajya Sabha, session 271), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK); the same FIRs, State by State, in Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 2047, answered 5 August 2026. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  7. Exhibit 7

    Lok Sabha Question 2730 sets each year’s deaths from 2019 to 30 June 2026 under four compensation columns; under “Compensation not confirmed” it lists 20 of 47 deaths for 2025 and 10 of 16 for 2026, up to 30 June 2026

    Sanitation workers who died in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, all India, by year, 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2026, and the compensation the answer records for them, as Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730 gives them on 4 August 2026, under the answer’s own column names. The answer calls the table “full compensation paid and pending cases”.

    YearTotal Number of sewer deathFull compensation (Rs. 10 lakh) paid before the judgement of Supreme Court dated 20.10.2023Full compensation of Rs.30 lakh paid (w.e.f. 20.10.2023)Partial compensation paidCompensation not confirmed
    2019132120138
    20203431–3–
    20216262–––
    20228879252
    202365421166
    202454832410
    202547323120
    2026, up to 30 June 202616–6–10

    Note: Each year’s four compensation columns add up to its deaths. Where the answer prints “-”, the table shows “–”. The answer does not say whether a death under “Compensation not confirmed” is one whose compensation is pending, or what makes a payment partial, and it gives no total amounts, so nothing is worked out from these columns. Full compensation of Rs 10 lakh (₹1,000,000, about US$12,000 at 2023 rates) is the amount paid before the Supreme Court’s judgement of 20 October 2023, and Rs 30 lakh (₹3,000,000, about US$36,000 at 2023 rates) the amount from that date, as the column headings give them. The same answer says “No death has been reported due to manual scavenging”; these are the deaths it gives for hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541’s cases where compensation had not been released, and Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 2048’s compensation paid in full and in part, are different measures and are shown on their own above. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730 is a scan read by eye; a second reader has not yet checked it.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730, answered 4 August 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 8), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  8. Exhibit 8

    Of 54,574 sewer and septic tank workers the ministry had validated under NAMASTE by 17 December 2024, it recorded 67.9% as Scheduled Caste

    Validated sewer and septic tank workers under the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE), by the category the ministry records, 33 States/UTs.

    1. General (none of these)4,3918.0%
    2. Other Backward Classes (OBC)8,58715.7%
    3. Scheduled Castes (SC)37,06067.9%
    4. Scheduled Tribes (ST)4,5368.3%

    Note: 57,758 workers had been profiled, of whom 54,574 were validated. The same answer calls the work “an occupation based activity rather than caste based”. The category is the ministry’s record of living workers; no answer used here gives the caste of those who died.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 3453, answered 17 December 2024 (18th Lok Sabha, session 3), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  9. Exhibit 9

    By 16 December 2025 the ministry counted 89,114 validated sewer and septic tank workers under NAMASTE, 12,418 of them in Uttar Pradesh

    Validated sewer and septic tank workers under NAMASTE, by State/UT, as on 16 December 2025.

    • Workers
    • Under 500
    • 500–1,999
    • 2,000–4,999
    • 5,000–9,999
    • 10,000 and over
    • No figure

    Note: The answer gives district rows; each State/UT figure here adds up its districts, and they sum to the answer’s grand total of 89,114. This answer gives no category breakdown. A later answer, Question 2562 of 4 August 2026, gives 89,915 validated workers “across the country”, with no State/UT figures.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2648, answered 16 December 2025 (18th Lok Sabha, session 6), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  10. Exhibit 10

    For 2022 to 2025, the government’s count in Question 541 gives 88, 65, 54 and 43 deaths by year, and SKA’s count gives 93, 102, 116 and 121

    Deaths in sewers and septic tanks, all India, by year, 2022 to 2025: the government’s count as Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541 gives it (NCSK, as on 31 December 2025), and SKA’s count, as ThePrint reports it (“How sewer deaths scar families for years”, 17 August 2026). Each is shown as its source gives it.

    YearGovernment (NCSK), Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541SKA, as ThePrint reports it
    20228893
    202365102
    202454116
    202543121

    Note: The two counts are not kept the same way. The government’s count is of deaths in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks that NCSK recorded. The reports call these figures SKA’s own documentation and compilation, released in its statements and memorandums. None of the reports, and no statement found, publishes SKA’s method or the list of deaths behind its totals. SKA’s count, as The Mooknayak reports it (“‘Stop Deaths in Sewers & Septic Tanks’: SKA Protests at Jantar Mantar, Alleges ‘Systematic Erasure of Dalit Lives by Manipulating Data’”, 26 March 2026) gives the same figures for 2023, 2024 and 2025. SKA’s count, as SabrangIndia reports it (“Though sewer deaths have crossed the 100 mark this year, government is silent: SKA”, 9 July 2026) gives the same figure for 2025. For 2025, Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question 1250 gives a different government count, 47; both government counts for 2025 are set side by side with the other answers’ counts above.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541, answered 3 February 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 7), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), SKA’s yearly counts, as reported: ThePrint, “How sewer deaths scar families for years”, 17 August 2026. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  11. Exhibit 11

    For 2022 to 2025, Lok Sabha Question 2730 gives 88, 65, 54 and 47 deaths by year, Question 541 gave 88, 65, 54 and 43, and SKA’s count gives 93, 102, 116 and 121

    Deaths in sewers and septic tanks, all India, by year, 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2026: the government’s count as Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730 gives it (NCSK, answered 4 August 2026) and as Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541 gave it (NCSK, as on 31 December 2025), and SKA’s count, as ThePrint reports it (“How sewer deaths scar families for years”, 17 August 2026). Each is shown as its source gives it.

    YearGovernment (NCSK), Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730Government (NCSK), Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541SKA, as ThePrint reports it
    2019132131–
    20203440–
    20216262–
    2022888893
    20236565102
    20245454116
    20254743121
    2026, up to 30 June 202616––

    Note: “–” means the source gives no figure for that year. The two government answers give different counts for 2019, 2020 and 2025, and neither says why; they agree for the other years both give. Question 541’s count ends with 2025, and Question 2730’s last row is 2026, up to 30 June 2026. SKA’s count, as ThePrint reports it (“How sewer deaths scar families for years”, 17 August 2026), gives 113 for “2026, to the end of July”, a different period from the government’s, so it is not set in the same row; it is with the other counts for 2026 below. The counts are not kept the same way. The government’s count is of deaths in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks that NCSK recorded. The reports call these figures SKA’s own documentation and compilation, released in its statements and memorandums. None of the reports, and no statement found, publishes SKA’s method or the list of deaths behind its totals. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730 is a scan read by eye; a second reader has not yet checked it.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730, answered 4 August 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 8), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541, answered 3 February 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 7), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), SKA’s yearly counts, as reported: ThePrint, “How sewer deaths scar families for years”, 17 August 2026. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  12. Exhibit 12

    From January 2021, the government’s count gives 332 deaths to 30 June 2026, and SKA’s count gives 593 for “January 2021 to date (July 2026)”

    Deaths in sewers and septic tanks, all India, from January 2021: the government’s count as Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2562 gives it, and SKA’s count, as SabrangIndia reports it (“#STOPKILLINGUS Protest at Jantar Mantar on August 4 against GOI’s “cover-up” of Manual Scavenging deaths”, 3 August 2026), each with the period its source gives.

    CountPeriod its source givesDeaths
    Government (NCSK), Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2562, 4 August 20261 January 2021 to 30 June 2026332
    SKA, press release as SabrangIndia reports it, 3 August 2026January 2021 to date (July 2026)593

    Note: The periods are not the same as the sources give them: the government’s ends on 30 June 2026, and SKA’s press release gives its own as “January 2021 to date (July 2026)”. The Mooknayak and ThePrint report SKA’s 593 as covering the same period as the government’s count. The government’s count is of deaths in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks that NCSK recorded. The reports call these figures SKA’s own documentation and compilation, released in its statements and memorandums. None of the reports, and no statement found, publishes SKA’s method or the list of deaths behind its totals. Neither count is adjusted to the other’s period, so the difference between them is not worked out here.

    Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2562, answered 4 August 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 8), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), SKA’s press release of 3 August 2026, as reported: SabrangIndia, “#STOPKILLINGUS Protest at Jantar Mantar on August 4 against GOI’s “cover-up” of Manual Scavenging deaths”, 3 August 2026; Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), SKA’s figures at its protest of 4 August 2026, as reported: The Mooknayak, “‘Stop Killing Us’: Protesters Accuse Govt of Hiding 261 Sewer & Septic Tank Deaths”, 5 August 2026; Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), SKA’s yearly counts, as reported: ThePrint, “How sewer deaths scar families for years”, 17 August 2026. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  13. Exhibit 13

    DASAM counts at least 66 deaths of sanitation workers from February to July 2026, the most in March (20)

    Sanitation workers who died cleaning sewers, septic tanks and other confined spaces, all India, by month, February to July 2026: DASAM’s count, as The Mooknayak reports it (“Manual Scavenging Deaths Persist Nationwide: DASAM Documents 66 Killings Between February and July 2026”, 29 July 2026).

    1. 1February
    2. 20March
    3. 10April
    4. 6May
    5. 18June
    6. 11July

    Note: No source used here gives the government’s count by month, so no official figure stands beside these months; Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730 gives 16 deaths for 2026, up to 30 June 2026, a different period and definition, shown with the other 2026 counts below. DASAM says its figures “represent only reported and verifiable cases” and that it checks deaths by field verification. It counts deaths in sewers, septic tanks, sewage treatment plants, drains and other confined spaces. No list of the deaths behind its totals is published. DASAM gives its totals as “at least”. Its earlier statement, as The Mooknayak reports it (30 June 2026), gives the same counts for February to June.

    Source: Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), DASAM’s statement of July 2026, as reported: The Mooknayak, “Manual Scavenging Deaths Persist Nationwide: DASAM Documents 66 Killings Between February and July 2026”, 29 July 2026. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

  14. Exhibit 14

    For 2026 so far, SKA’s count reached 113 and DASAM’s at least 66; the government’s count, in Lok Sabha Question 2730, gives 16 to 30 June 2026

    Deaths in sewers and septic tanks in 2026, all India, each count as the report or answer that carries it gives it, in the order they were published.

    CountPeriod the source givesAs reported byDeaths
    Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA)the first three months of 2026The Mooknayak, 26 March 202641
    Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM)February to June 2026The Mooknayak, 30 June 2026at least 55
    Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA)the first 188 days of 2026SabrangIndia, 9 July 2026101
    Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM)February to July 2026The Mooknayak, 29 July 2026at least 66
    Government (NCSK)2026, up to 30 June 2026Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730, 4 August 202616
    Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA)the first 207 days of 2026The Mooknayak, 5 August 2026113
    Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA)2026, to the end of JulyThePrint, 17 August 2026113

    Note: The periods differ, so the counts are not added up or set against each other. The organisations and the government do not count the same way. The government’s count is of deaths in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks that NCSK recorded. The reports call these figures SKA’s own documentation and compilation, released in its statements and memorandums. None of the reports, and no statement found, publishes SKA’s method or the list of deaths behind its totals. DASAM says its figures “represent only reported and verifiable cases” and that it checks deaths by field verification. It counts deaths in sewers, septic tanks, sewage treatment plants, drains and other confined spaces. No list of the deaths behind its totals is published. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730 gives 16 as its year row for 2026, up to 30 June 2026; it is a scan read by eye, and a second reader has not yet checked it.

    Source: Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), SKA’s memorandum to the Prime Minister of 25 March 2026, as reported: The Mooknayak, “‘Stop Deaths in Sewers & Septic Tanks’: SKA Protests at Jantar Mantar, Alleges ‘Systematic Erasure of Dalit Lives by Manipulating Data’”, 26 March 2026; Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), DASAM’s statement of June 2026, as reported: The Mooknayak, “55 Sanitation Workers Killed in Manual Scavenging Operations Across India in 2026 So Far: DASAM”, 30 June 2026; Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), SKA’s statement of July 2026, as published: SabrangIndia, “Though sewer deaths have crossed the 100 mark this year, government is silent: SKA”, 9 July 2026; Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), DASAM’s statement of July 2026, as reported: The Mooknayak, “Manual Scavenging Deaths Persist Nationwide: DASAM Documents 66 Killings Between February and July 2026”, 29 July 2026; Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), SKA’s figures at its protest of 4 August 2026, as reported: The Mooknayak, “‘Stop Killing Us’: Protesters Accuse Govt of Hiding 261 Sewer & Septic Tank Deaths”, 5 August 2026; Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), SKA’s yearly counts, as reported: ThePrint, “How sewer deaths scar families for years”, 17 August 2026. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2730, answered 4 August 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 8), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.

What’s next

The next update

We will update these figures on the next answer in Parliament that gives these counts. This is version 5.

What the data can’t tell us yet

Deaths no one recorded: the government’s counts are deaths it recorded, and SKA’s and DASAM’s are deaths they documented, with no published list behind either.

What you can do

About this data

What this shows
The government’s own counts of deaths in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, with compensation cases and the workers it has profiled, as 9 Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha answers give them, and SKA’s and DASAM’s counts beside them, as news reports carry them.
Source
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in the Lok Sabha; Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, in the Rajya Sabha; Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), as reported by The Mooknayak; Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), as reported by SabrangIndia; Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), as reported by ThePrint; Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), as reported by The Mooknayak, 16 documents, Annexure, Annexures I and II, Annexure-I and Annexure-III. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026. Every source
What it does not show
Deaths no one recorded: the government’s counts are deaths it recorded, and SKA’s and DASAM’s are deaths they documented, with no published list behind either.
Last updated
20 Oct 2026 · Next expected update: on the next answer in Parliament that gives these counts
Corrections
Changelog (version 5) · Corrections policy

Sources, caveats and definitions