Archana Gupta
Hunt for employment
Chaos of survival,
Ready to earn a bread
At the brink of death.
The worn out hands look for gold in garbage oblivious of the Choking breath and impure drains.
These words are certified by true events India has witnessed.
Throwing light on a recent event where a 25 year old scavenger, Arun Kumar lost his life due to asphyxiation while cleaning the septic tank of a mall in Chennai, we are enlightened of the grave existence of this evil. The grieving family includes a 5 months old daughter who would never be blessed with the breathing site of her father and a widow who would have to face the brutal society and a wailing daughter.
This is not the case with one but many undiscovered families who lost their beloved in Choking drains or disgusting drowns.
In order to curb this, we need to understand Manual Scavenging and it’s Geographical spread.
Manual scavenging is the act of carrying out human excreta manually from dry latrines. With the passage of time, this practice still holds prevalence in discrete forms like sewer and septic tank cleaning, manual cleaning of water and latrine pits. Workers practicing manual scavenging are called manual scavengers. They don’t have any personal protective equipment and therefore, use tools like brooms, shovels and buckets.
Manual scavenging is still prevalent in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan. In India, Tamil Nadu has the highest number of sewer deaths accompanied by Gujarat. As per a survey, 926 deaths are reported out of which 172 families have not yet received compensation by the Government. In Uttar Pradesh, out of 53,598 people, 29,923 workers are involved in manual scavenging.
*Manual scavenging has prevailed in India since the initiation of human society as per various sacred texts and other literary findings. A prime duty, out of the fifteen duties, affiliated with slaves as per Naradiya Samhita was manual scavenging.
We all are astounded by the extent of manual scavenging and are wondering about Legal Intervention. Let’s talk about Governmental Initiatives.
* Many legal frameworks have been adopted against manual scavenging. In 1993, this practice was banned by the government including cleaning of dry latrines. It was followed by filing of a petition in the Supreme Court by Safai Karamachari Andolan (SKA) demanding declaration of manual scavenging as a violation of Right to Life and Equality in 2003. ?
* In the years of 2004, 2007 and 2008, various cases were filed in High courts of Gujarat, Delhi and Chennai respectively where the attention of the court was demanded on the death cases of manual scavenging.
* Amendments in the Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 have been proposed by the government which would throw light on the recently released data by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The data illustrates that this has led to 376 deaths over the past five years which includes 110 deaths in 2019 alone.
* The Supreme Court passed a law as per which a compensation of ten lakhs is to be given in case of every sewer death.
* The Water Board in Chennai looked into prospective matters where manual entries were inevitable.
* Various Activists in India appealed to the International Human Rights Community to acknowledge the act of manual scavenging as a threat to human rights.
* The proffered changes envisioned to swap ‘manhole’ with ‘machine-hole’ for the purpose of cleaning sewer and septic tanks shall be mandatory. This change would be accompanied by setting up of a 24×7 national helpline number or an institution which would serve its motive of taking strict legal measures against reported violations.
Apart from masonry words or construction laborers, it’s enigmatic to digest why people would even choose this as an occupational practice. Let’s analyze.
SOCIAL AGENDA
* India’s caste system is linked with the practice of manual scavenging where the people of lower castes were expected to perform this task.
* The stigma and discrimination that is associated with manual scavenging is still lingered on even though the Law has terminated manual scavenging as a source of employment.
* The presence of a sanitary toilet inside the house is still regarded as a physical pollution to many communities.
LACK OF EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AND PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENTS
It’s not difficult to put together that lack of education facilities for poor people have pushed them to fall in the abyss of manual scavenging.
* Moreover, there has been a lack of adequate tools and protective gears to clean such areas which has emerged as a major cause of frequent deaths among manual scavengers.
OUTSOURCING ISSUE
*Due to the advent of privatization, the jobs in the form of contracts are handed over to private contractors who do not hold responsibility for the poor state of workers in various fields.
* In various cases of scavengers being asphyxiated to death in , the contractors have not admitted their faults.
CALLOUS ATTITUDE
* Due to unwillingness to invest in various technologies and the rehabilitation of the scavengers, municipalities prefer denial rather than ending this practice.
*There have been no reports from the site of the workers practicing manual scavenging despite frequent news of death.
* There is a lack of basic amenities for lower castes people which make them inadequate for high paid jobs.
India has witnessed victorious revolutions when the citizens have united to eradicate a harming cause. It can be a powerful tool even in case of winning over the Dark Evil of Manual Scavenging.
The following initiatives can lead towards an advanced India.
THOROUGH INVESTIGATION AND AWARENESS
* To understand and highlight the grave issue of manual scavenging it is required to acknowledge and understand how and why this practice is deeply embedded in the caste system.
* It should be succeeded by immediate sensitization amongst people regarding the gross violation of human rights.
METICULOUS IDENTIFICATION
* Funds have been provided by The Social Justice Ministry to the manual scavengers rather than giving money to municipalities or the contractors. Through these funds the workers can purchase the protective gears and adequate equipment to pursue their work.
* For this vision to become a reality, the states need to appropriately adjust the workers engaged in cleaning toxic sludge into developed work places.
EMPOWERMENT OF LOCAL ADMINISTRATION
* Keeping in mind the morals of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the funds available for the development of smart cities could also be viewed to solve the issue of manual scavenging.
* Hence, it is essential to strengthen local administration so that the resources needed to shift to mechanised cleaning would not be an obstacle.
ARTICULATION OF STRICT LAWS
If we wish to keep intact the rights of these workers, it is essential for the law to create a statutory obligation to impart necessary sanitation services on the behalf of the state agencies.
CONCLUSION
According to the scenario in our country, I believe that manual scavenging has become a national emergency, hence there is a great need to curb its root cause. Smart cities should work towards ending manual scavenging, hence ensuring discrimination free and secure livelihood to the workers involved in this grave occupation. Effective milestones like education, awareness, technology, skill development and Government initiatives can reduce the entrenched manual scavenging.
Despite the existence of rigorous laws, this heinous practice is still persistent in our country. It is arduous to ban manual scavenging in India because it serves major employment opportunities to the disadvantaged communities. It operates at the convergence of caste and economic inequalities, hence its eradication requires much more than the technological or legal solutions.
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