The sudden and unplanned announcement of nation-wide lockdown on 24th March 2020, has severely affected those who depend for their livelihood on the banned profession of manual scavenging. While the unplanned shutdown and lack of preparedness of the government has hit all workers in the informal sector hard, but the impact has been particularly severe for those engaged in manual scavenging, since government refuses to acknowledge the existence of the work and those who continue to enagage in this prohibited occupation and has refused to rehabilitate them on a sustainable basis.
With the lockdown, most workers were unable to get any work and thus required relief support. Safaikarmachari Kavulu Samithi-Karnataka, quikcly reached out to friends and supporters and appealed for funds. Within a week of the lockdown, ration-kits were distributed to the workers in Bengaluru (215) and Kolar districts (80).