India, Sept. 2 -- New Delhi

The Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) on Tuesday launched a campaign to end manual scavenging in the country within a year, before India's 80th Independence Day, with speakers, including former Supreme Court judges Madan Lokur and Sudhanshu Dhulia, highlighting that despite the law prohibiting the practice, it remained common.

Sanitation workers from multiple states spoke at the event at the Press Club of India, stating that they were forced to do the work and were then discriminated against for the same. Multiple workers also raised concerns over the future of their children, alleging that the government had not done anything for them.

"My mother worked as a manual scavenger. Even today, almost 80 years after ...