SCENARIO
The 2012 Bill explicitly prohibits construction of dry latrines, and employment of manual scavengers, as also the hazardous cleaning of a sewer or a septic tank. But cleaning railway tracks has not been included, and “hazardous cleaning” is defined not by employers requiring workers to manually clean sewers or septic tanks, but requiring them to do so without protective gear. Our objection to manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks is not just of compromising worker safety – which is no doubt important – but of human indignity, which would continue even if such manual cleaning is done with protective gear. And it is unconscionable to let the railways off the hook.
For sewer workers and railway workers, liberation will come by introducing technological changes which will render the occupation humane, dignified and safe, and also ensure that human beings do not have to make any direct contact with excreta. Technologies are available globally which both the Indian Railways and municipalities could invest in, which would obliterate the requirement for human beings to manually handle excreta. The fact is that central, state and local governments do not make these public investments, because human beings are available to perform this work cheaply, propelled by their birth in most disadvantaged castes and lack of other livelihood options.
The 2012 bill places a duty of survey on all local authorities, but the past experience is that State Governments are mostly in denial. They usually reject community findings, even when backed by strong evidence. This can be prevented only if there is a continuous system of joint surveillance, beginning with a joint survey by designated teams of government officials and community members.
The 2012 bill fittingly mentions rehabilitation in the title itself. But it does not take us much beyond earlier rehabilitation programmes which were introduced from 1993. The law should explicitly guarantee fully government funded school education for every child of school going age, with scholarships for higher education, and vocational and computer training.
Given the past experience of corruption and harassment in loans, and the fact that most manual scavengers are women, many of whom are older and with poor literacy, the scheme should be entirely grant-based. Women should have the option of receiving a monthly pension of Rs 2000, or an enterprise grant of up to Rs 1 lakh, supported by training and counselling facilities. Highly subsidised housing should be ensured in mixed colonies.
Public officials have frequently failed in their duties to identify, report and end manual scavenging, demolish dry latrines, and rehabilitate manual scavengers, and on their shoulders rests major culpability for the continuance of the unlawful and unjust social practice. The bill must introduce the offence of dereliction of duty by public officials under this statute, and prescribe deterrent consequences for these failures.
This new central law presents the people of this country one more chance to remedy an enormous historical wrong, of enslaving our people to painful lifetimes of humiliation and hopelessness. We should not allow another deliberately weak law to postpone once again our collective obligation to end one of modern India’s greatest shames.
INITIATIVES
The 2012 Bill explicitly prohibits construction of dry latrines, and employment of manual scavengers, as also the hazardous cleaning of a sewer or a septic tank. But cleaning railway tracks has not been included, and “hazardous cleaning” is defined not by employers requiring workers to manually clean sewers or septic tanks, but requiring them to do so without protective gear. Our objection to manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks is not just of compromising worker safety – which is no doubt important – but of human indignity, which would continue even if such manual cleaning is done with protective gear. And it is unconscionable to let the railways off the hook.
For sewer workers and railway workers, liberation will come by introducing technological changes which will render the occupation humane, dignified and safe, and also ensure that human beings do not have to make any direct contact with excreta. Technologies are available globally which both the Indian Railways and municipalities could invest in, which would obliterate the requirement for human beings to manually handle excreta. The fact is that central, state and local governments do not make these public investments, because human beings are available to perform this work cheaply, propelled by their birth in most disadvantaged castes and lack of other livelihood options.
The 2012 bill places a duty of survey on all local authorities, but the past experience is that State Governments are mostly in denial. They usually reject community findings, even when backed by strong evidence. This can be prevented only if there is a continuous system of joint surveillance, beginning with a joint survey by designated teams of government officials and community members.
The 2012 bill fittingly mentions rehabilitation in the title itself. But it does not take us much beyond earlier rehabilitation programmes which were introduced from 1993. The law should explicitly guarantee fully government funded school education for every child of school going age, with scholarships for higher education, and vocational and computer training.
Given the past experience of corruption and harassment in loans, and the fact that most manual scavengers are women, many of whom are older and with poor literacy, the scheme should be entirely grant-based. Women should have the option of receiving a monthly pension of Rs 2000, or an enterprise grant of up to Rs 1 lakh, supported by training and counselling facilities. Highly subsidised housing should be ensured in mixed colonies.
Public officials have frequently failed in their duties to identify, report and end manual scavenging, demolish dry latrines, and rehabilitate manual scavengers, and on their shoulders rests major culpability for the continuance of the unlawful and unjust social practice. The bill must introduce the offence of dereliction of duty by public officials under this statute, and prescribe deterrent consequences for these failures.
This new central law presents the people of this country one more chance to remedy an enormous historical wrong, of enslaving our people to painful lifetimes of humiliation and hopelessness. We should not allow another deliberately weak law to postpone once again our collective obligation to end one of modern India’s greatest shames.
