RIGHTS OF THE VULNERABLE 1 97 Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993' has now been adopted by that State. Rajasthan has stated that a Bill has been introduced in the Assembly in this regard. The State of Himachal Pradesh has indicated that all those involved in the practice of manual scavenging have already been 'liberated', and that the State has its own Municipal Act, which provides for attaining the objectives of the Central Act. The Government of Andhra Pradesh has set as a target the end of the year 2002 to end this practice. The Government of West Bengal has set the date of 31 March 2002 to end this practice, while the newly formed State of Chhattisgarh has set the date as 30 June 2002. Bihar has stated that it has decided to end this practice at the earliest possible date, while Madhya Pradesh and Assam have indicated March 2002 and 2 October 2002 respectively as their target dates. However, the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Havana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, and Uttaranchal have not responded to the communications addressed to them. This is disappointing. 8.56 While a definite momentum has been created to end the unconscionable practice of manual scavenging, a decisive effort must now be made, with the involvement of the political leadership of the country at the highest level, to follow through until this practice ceases to exist. Although the Memorandum ofAction Taken for the year 1999-2000, tabled by the Ministry of Home Affairs before Parliament, states that a variety of initiatives have been taken by the Central and State Governments, the vigour and commitment of these actions will need to be intensified if the plight of manual scavenging is conclusively to be eradicated if this practice that has brought shame to this country and degradation to its citizens is to be considered over, once and for all. The Commission therefore urges all concerned to lend their full might and exercise their will to achieve this objective by Gandhi Jayanti 2002. G] Human Rights in Situations of Natural Disasters 1) The Orissa Cyclone Affected 8.57 The Commission continued to monitor the relief and reconstruction effort on behalf of those stricken by the super-cyclone that hit Orissa in October 1999, ANNUAL REPORT 2001-2002