Despite bans, manual scavenging still persists in India

Despite imposing a ban on the cleaning of sewers by human beings, the practise still continues and there has been no change in the lives of sanitation workers. The government needs to work on modernization of sewer systems and proper use of machinery for waste handling.

Hyderabad: Why is it that the right to live with self-respect as human beings is enjoyed by a few? Why millions in this country are still living in the misery of cleaning the dirt and filth of fellow human beings? When looking for answers to these questions as to why we are like this, it is common to blame laws and the government. Any analysis may touch superficially the external conditions —but keeps the source of the problem alive.

The centuries-old discrimination of the society against a few sections has kept them at the bottom depriving them of education and economic equality. A glaring and shameful example of this is scavengers. This practice of using fellow human beings to do the work of removing human excrement is still alive in this country. It is a blot on the ineffectiveness of the governments which are incapable of strictly enforcing the enacted laws, playing blind to the immoral practice still continuing for many years!

Violation of human rights

The Constitution guarantees the dignity of individuals. Ensuring public health is declared as the primary duty of the state. To that end, the government enacted a law in 1993 against 'The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act.' The law was not properly enforced at any stage as the states were completely stubborn. Twenty years later, in 2013, another law was passed banning the use of humans to clean up human excreta and providing legal guarantees for their rehabilitation. The law proposes a jail term of up to five years and a fine of Rs five lakh for using human beings to clean up human waste. But the strange thing is that millions in the country are still continuing in that ‘profession’ - there are no records of anyone being punished or fined in these seven years under the 2013 law.

There are still 7.7 lakh scavengers working across the country. Thousands are engaged in the brutal act of lifting human excrement with their hands and carrying it in baskets. It is estimated that thousands still work as scavengers in Indian Railways. No matter what the official statistics say, some studies show that an average of 1,700 people die each year from illness across the country, due to cleaning sewers, septic tanks exposed to toxic gases.

READ: Tamil Nadu: 55-yr-old manual scavenger dies of asphyxiation while cleaning septic tank

Since the two laws enacted in the past did not yield the desired results, the law was amended in the recent Parliamentary sessions banning appointment of scavengers. Compared to the past the severity of the punishments is increased. Until the hegemonic attitude of enforcing this profession on the Dalit community for generations making them 'untouchables' is stopped, such laws will remain as an eyewash. As long as the average life expectancy of sanitation workers does not exceed fifty years and those who go down the septic tanks and clean them often suffer from serious illnesses, including asthma and hepatitis, and live a miserable life, it means that the Indian democracy is not progressing towards good governance.

Solution through mass awareness

If there are still dry toilets in a society that is said to be fast progressing in the path of development, it means that there is no human concern to that progress. If there are still millions of ‘dry latrines’ across the country, it means that more hands are needed to clean them. That is why the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) has carried out programs to demolish the dry latrines. It is inhuman that civil society is still using these latrines and employing some people as scavengers for generations. Inhuman attitude subjects some people to unlimited oppression and untouchability while elevating some as 'respectable'.

Discontinuance of such narrow-mindedness and creating awareness across society is more important than the enactment of laws. Preparing the local institutions to that extent and raising awareness among the people should be undertaken as a movement. In addition, governments must pay close attention to the modernization of sewer systems, the use of machinery for the treatment and transportation of human waste. Unless the society is made aware of the relationship between cleanliness and good health and move with a strong action plan, the fake sympathy shown towards the scavengers and sanitation workers that their services are invaluable and they should be relieved of the drudgery will be meaningless!

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