The government is making every effort to rehabilitate all the people involved in manual scavenging by the 31st of March this year. <br/><br/>Addressing the 10th Conference of the Editors of the social sector, the Social and Justice Minister, Mr. Mukul Wasnik said that 13,700 people involved in this inhuman practice still remain to be covered under the rehabilitation scheme. <br/><br/>Reiterating that eradication of the practice of manual scavenging is an area of priority for the government, Mr. Wasnik said more than 69 thousand such people have already been provided loans for alternative occupations. AIR correspondent says that self-employment scheme for the rehabilitation of manual scavengers was introduced in 2007 with the objective of rehabilitating these people and their dependents within a specified time frame.