Sanitation workers perform an indispensable public service by maintaining cleanliness, drainage systems, sewerage networks and public health infrastructure. Despite the essential nature of their work, workers engaged in sewer and septic-tank cleaning continue to face serious threats to their life, health, dignity and occupational safety. India has developed a comprehensive constitutional, statutory and judicial framework to eliminate manual scavenging and prohibit hazardous sanitation practices, particularly through the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, judicial directions of the Supreme Court and government initiatives such as the National Action for Mechanized Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE). However, the continuing occurrence of hazardous cleaning and sanitation-worker deaths indicates a significant gap between legal prohibition and ground-level implementation. This gap forms the central concern of the present study. The research examines the human-rights situation of sanitation workers in Gujarat from a socio-legal perspective. It analyses the constitutional safeguards relating to equality, social dignity and the right to life, together with the statutory prohibition of hazardous sewer and septic-tank cleaning. The study further evaluates judicial interventions, institutional accountability, mechanization, occupational-safety measures, compensation and rehabilitation mechanisms. Particular attention is given to recent developments in Gujarat, including official data concerning sewer and septic-tank workers identified under NAMASTE and reported deaths associated with hazardous sanitation operations. The study finds that the persistence of unsafe sanitation work cannot be attributed solely to individual negligence. It reflects broader institutional and socio-economic challenges, including contractualisation, inadequate mechanization, weak monitoring, insufficient safety training, occupational-health risks and delays in compensation and rehabilitation. The paper argues that legal prohibition must be converted into effective practical protection through comprehensive mechanization, strict accountability of contractors and authorities, preventive monitoring, worker participation, timely compensation and sustainable rehabilitation. A rights-based approach is essential to ensure that sanitation workers can perform their socially necessary work without sacrificing their life, dignity and health.