Beyond Policy Reforms: Caste Based Manual Scavenging and the Indian Society
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Manual scavenging includes cleaning sewers, septic tanks, open drains, dry latrines & pits. It has always been carried out by the “lower castes” in India. As Dr Ambedkar said, the caste system is a division of labourers and not a division of labour, and this can be explicitly seen in the profession of manual scavenging. According to a recent Hindustan Times article, 97% of manual scavengers are from Scheduled Castes, 1% from Scheduled Tribes, 1% from Other Backward Castes (OBCs), and remaining from other sections. Why does such a form of “Division of labourers” exist in our society? There are several reasons associated with it.
Employing people as manual scavengers were banned by the Govt. in 1993. This was further bolstered by the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. The construction of insanitary latrines was banned, Septic tanks were to be cleaned by machines, Safety gears were mandatory if there was a need for manual scavenging. These initiatives seem great. However, the problem lies with the implementation. Safety gears are often not provided to the manual scavengers; even though mechanized cleaning was to be followed, it is not being done. Even the municipalities resort to manual scavenging due to a lack of machines. Another problem is the Rehabilitation of manual scavengers.
The Govt. seems to be avoiding the problem rather than accepting it and finding ways to eradicate it. In August 2021, Ramdas Athawale said that there were no deaths due to manual scavenging; he later added that 309 people died in septic tanks. This was a clear manipulation of the definition of manual scavenging and an insult to those who lost their lives, as pointed out by Bezwada Wilson, one of the founders of Safai Karmachari Andolan. Further, Govt. doesn’t have concrete data about manual scavengers. It is imperative to know about their numbers and about their background if some implementation of policies to reduce manual scavenging is to be done. The practise hasn’t stopped, and no significant efforts are being made. Even the laws made to uproot it can be said to be just on paper. Why is there no desperation from the Govt.’s side? Why is there no outrage from the people? Why doesn’t this get featured in mainstream media as often as Bollywood celebrities? Have we accepted it as a norm because it has been perpetuated all the same for ages? Most part of the answer lies in the Indian caste system.
No one wants a profession such as Manual scavenging. The financial burden and societal pressure force people to carry on this dangerous profession. The average life of a manual scavenger is less than 50 years. In an already destitute household, the early death of one of the bread earners of the family forces the young ones to work to feed themselves and their families. Refusing to work is often seen as retaliation by the dominant forces. In villages, refusal can lead to banishment from the village, banishment from accessing village resources, or sometimes even worse. The village authorities turn a blind eye or are sometimes complicit in it. The caste dynamics in villages often influence police too. Hence, getting police protection when threatened by others is difficult. A few months ago, Amrabhai Boricha, a Dalit activist, was killed due to similar reasons. He went to the police station to file a complaint of an attempt to murder him, but the sub-inspector refused to lodge a complaint. The sub-inspector was from the same caste as the accused people. Later, Amrabhai Boricha was killed. Though he was not a manual scavenger, his case clearly depicts how caste plays an important role in such matters. Such societal pressure is found in schools as well; students from lower castes are forced to clean the toilets; a documentary named “India untouched” depicts this perfectly.
Manual scavenging has led to many deaths. The workers are exposed to toxic gases in a septic tank. There have been several instances of deaths due to suffocation in a septic tank. 7 people died in June 2021 as they inhaled toxic fumes while cleaning a septic tank in Gujarat.
In India, while quota in education and govt jobs attract a lot of heated debates, the “quota of lower castes” in menial jobs such as manual scavenging rarely finds a place in the mainstream. While people think that a Dalit driving an Audi is a big enough excuse for ending Reservation, They are completely ignorant about the fact that people doing manual scavenging are also Dalits, the quota that no one ever talks about. The forces that enforce this quota are based on Brahminical supremacy. This supremacy is not of Brahmins but of people who believe in graded inequality, and hence, the ones at the lowest are the most vulnerable. The “benefits” of this quota are often handed down to the next generation due to the reasons mentioned in this article. Who can end this quota? The onus to end this quota is on the well-off public and the Govt. We need a proper mechanism to make sure that the practice ends and people associated with it are absorbed in mainstream society. This dream seems distant right now, but when everyone becomes desperate to end it, it won’t look this distant.
Written by- Hiren Algotar
PGP 2021–23, IIM Bangalore
