Sweeping Under the Rug
With the persistent attention of our government on cleanliness and sanitation the past few years, India has made significant advancements. In the Phase 2 of the Swachh Bharat Mission- Grameen promoting an ODF+ (Open Defecation Free) rural India, the government plans to focus on Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM). It is aimed in the right direction. Even so, the government is failing to acknowledge and maintain the conditions of those who face the real waste management challenges from defecation: the sanitation workers.
According to the 2017 Dalberg study, over five million workers are engaged in an occupation involving contact with human waste on a daily basis. These numbers are acutely underreported since independent workers, non-contractual or non-government workers, have not been taken into account. Of these, two million are reported manual scavengers – persons who clean insanitary dry latrines, clean or repair sewer lines and empty septic tanks, clean railway tracks, etc., and come in direct contact with human feces. Manual scavengers, by definition, have been outlawed since the enforcement of the Prohibition of Employment of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. Notwithstanding, minimal steps besides feigning ignorance have been taken to alleviate their conditions or upgrade their working equipment.
These workers are forced to contend with sanitary waste everyday, exposing them to health risks and diseases. Sewer and septic tank deaths have increased from 1054 (updated 31/12/22) to 1080 (updated 30/04/23). It seems that the government is sweeping these figures under the rug by proclaiming that there have been no manual scavenger deaths in the last three years! Of the 233 people that died working in sewers and septic tanks (who are not recognized by the government as manual scavengers), only 199 received compensation. These numbers are more than mere statistics, they’re the lives of people. The work they do and the issues they face are deeply entrenched in our society, much like the underground waste they clean.
Indubitably, our government has done work in the interest of manual scavengers by providing them equipment, skill training opportunities, alternative jobs, monetary assistance and more under the PEMSR Act, 2013 however, nobody knows the duration of how long the aid was provided and to what extent. Based on articles and the NCSK’s annual reports, there has been refuting evidence of families proclaiming a no payment/payment not confirmed status as well as receiving less than the allocated Rs. 10 lakhs for accidental deaths of a member from manual scavenging.
In conclusion, the government has allotted significant resources to the cause of manual scavengers and sanitation workers but has it all truly been put in place? It is a question more of us should be holding the government accountable for. The onus lies with us to simply make ourselves more aware about the workers’ lifestyles and its human rights implications, and create respect for their profession in our society. After all, everybody deserves to be treated humanely.
-Aarini Sheth