In a Fulcrum: Revisiting the Conditions of Manual Scavengers in India

Abstract

The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, aimed for prohibition of employment of manual scavengers and for the regulation of construction and maintenance of water-seal latrines and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Likewise, 'Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 which defines manual scavenger in a wider framework which include a person engaged or employed for manual cleaning of human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit, on railway tracks etc. The Act aims at elimination of dry latrines and manual scavenging and the rehabilitation in alternate occupations of those engaged in this task. However, in spite of awareness against such hazardous occupation, its continuance has not ceased to exist. The objective of this paper is to look at the health related issues which manual scavengers have to confront with and a review of the initiatives taken by the State for health and safety measures of manual scavengers. In this study the stigma attached to manual scavenging, and social angle of caste based occupation for continuance of this occupation has also been briefly discussed.

Headnote

Abstract

The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, aimed for prohibition of employment of manual scavengers and for the regulation of construction and maintenance of water-seal latrines and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Likewise, 'Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 which defines manual scavenger in a wider framework which include a person engaged or employed for manual cleaning of human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit, on railway tracks etc. The Act aims at elimination of dry latrines and manual scavenging and the rehabilitation in alternate occupations of those engaged in this task. However, in spite of awareness against such hazardous occupation, its continuance has not ceased to exist. The objective of this paper is to look at the health related issues which manual scavengers have to confront with and a review of the initiatives taken by the State for health and safety measures of manual scavengers. In this study the stigma attached to manual scavenging, and social angle of caste based occupation for continuance of this occupation has also been briefly discussed.

Keywords: Manual Scavengers; Prohibition; Act; Health and Safety measures.

Introduction

The community of scavengers in India is segregated, the inhabitation is caste based, away from other areas neither in slums nor in localities where other caste reside. There is high prevalence of chronic ailments, and annually approximately 600 underground drainage and septic tanks cleaners die prematurely, the average life expectancy is low. The areas where they reside are neglected in terms of basic infrastructure, amenities and services like water, garbage and drainage maintenance, health care etc. In this light, the intent of this paper is to look at the health related issues which threaten the life expectancy of manual scavengers, at the same time it aims to review the initiatives taken by the State for health and safety measures of manual scavengers. Furthermore, this paper discusses in brief the stigma and social angle of caste based occupation for continuance of manual scavenging.

Manual scavenging from a layman's point of view means the "degrading and illegal task of cleaning human excrement from India's roads and dry latrine. Using little more than a broom, a tin plate, and a basket, they are made to clear feces from public and private latrines and carry them to dumping grounds and disposal sites" (Sadangi 2008, p.225). During the colonial period Balmikis, who are socially stigmatized Dalit group, who occupy the lowest position in the caste system, were brought from villages to remove human excrement and clean the cities. In time, with the introduction of septic latrines, the practice of carrying buckets of excrement on their heads is gone, but they still work to clear blockages in sewers where they are half submerged in filth. The stigma remains as they are considered untouchable and treated as such, and is still identified with the work they perform. They have always been marginalized and treated as social, economic and cultural outcasts. The Balmiki make up a cluster of communities - a few of whom are the Bhangi, Mehtar, Chuhra, Lal Beghi and Halalkhor. These communities are found throughout the states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, and Chandigarh where they are locally known by various names. Sweepers are now referred to as safai karamcharis or sanitary workers. Sanjeev Sirohi (2012) argued in the e-magazine Uday India that Jammu and Kashmir has the highest rate of manual scavenging in households. However, what concerns the government more is that bigger states such as Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have high rate of the shameful practice. On the other hand, states such as Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have been able to abolish the manual scavenging completely.

Apart from the social stigma, the work of scavenging is lowly paid, causes life-long health problems and even death for those who risk entering manholes without proper protection (Tiwari 2008). The incidents of frequent death among manual scavengers show a strong relation with health security and income. Health security can be described as ensuring low exposure to risk and providing access to healthcare services along with the ability to pay for medical care and medicine when necessary.

The Indian Constitution had laid down safeguards for the workers and factory men. Under the Economic and Social Principles, The Directive Principles of State Policy provides:

a) Securing suitable employment and healthy working conditions for men, women and children

b) Guarding the children against exploitation and moral degradation

c) Making provisions for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief

d) Taking steps to secure the participation of workers in the management of undertaking, etc.

Hence, such health security should be equally available and accessible to all citizens working in both organized and unorganized sectors.

Initiatives taken for Health and Safety measures for Manual Scavengers

Various Supreme Court judgments have, under this 'Right to Life' upheld the right to employee's health. The verdict given by Supreme Court in the case of Consumer Education & Research Centre & ORS Vs. Union of India (1995) is one such instance. It says, "We hold that right to health, medical aid to protect the health and vigor to a worker while in service or post retirement is a fundamental right under Article 21, read with Article 39 (e), 41, 43, 48 A and all related Articles and fundamental human rights to make life of the workman meaningful and purposeful with dignity of person." However, according to the report brought out by the Centre for Education and Communication (a labour resource organisation) on 'Health and Safety Workers of Delhi', fatal sewer accidents are frequent for sewage workers (manual scavengers). The highest ranked known cause of such deaths is respiratory diseases triggered through chronic illness. Apart from it, there are several other infections like gastroenteritis, intestinal parasitic infections and Pontiac fever which are prevalent among the sewage workers (Tiwari 2008).Most of the workers do not complete the entire service period of 60 years of age. They often cross the exposure limit where entry to sewer manholes is made ten times a month, that too on the basis of eight hours a day. On maximum occasions, no formal training or information is disseminated by the employer about the hazardous work. Added to it, dearth of protective gears is another problem which intensifies the assurance for death. An NGO in Ahmedabad named Manav Garima, led by Balmiki activist Parshottam Vaghela had documented the deaths of 145 manhole workers in seven years in the municipalities of Vadodara, Surat and Ahmedabad. In Mumbai, according to data obtained under the RTI Act, 2.039 safai karamcharis died between 1996 and 2006 in 14 of the city's 24 civic wards. Projected to all 24 wards in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the figure stands at 3.495 deaths over 10 years in the city with a population of 13 million (Thekaekara 2009). Similarly, in a reply to a Right to Information (RTI India 2008) query, the PMC health department has admitted that 44 employees had died from October 2005 to March 2006, 144 from April 2006 to March 2007 and 37 from April 2007 to September 2007. (Khape, 2008).

Governments' apathy too collect more dust to the plight of sewage workers. Various schemes which are implemented by government at state and central level differed in the level of commitments. Besides, lack of coordination between institutions in governmental hierarchy often results in disorienting or fading the objective before reaching its goal. The National Scheme of 1992 on sewage worker reflects such picture. The scheme was launched for identification, training and rehabilitation of Safai Karamcharis, the progress 'has not been altogether satisfactory'. As a result, it has benefited only 'a handful of safai karamcharis and their dependants'. One of the reasons for unsatisfactory progress of the scheme appears to be inadequate attention paid to it by the State Governments and concerned agencies (Hirway 2006). Even those working for urban municipalities are paid rupees 30-40 a day, and those working privately are paid rupees 5 per month for each house they clean. Even those working for municipalities rarely get paid, and are offered little health benefits for a job that entails many health hazards. In cities scavengers are actually lowered into filthy gutters in order to unclog them; they are fully immersed in human waste without protective gear. This is done despite the legal ban on manual scavenging as mentioned in the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993.The Act punishes the employment of scavengers or the construction of dry (non-flush) latrines with imprisonment for up to one year and or for a fine as high as rupees 2000. Breach of this Act in one way is a sheer violation of human rights. Several studies revealed that workers from this sector are severely prone to low level of health security. This crisis and risk situations are directly proportional to income generated by these workers.

Frequent occurrence of illness episodes put great strain on the workers, where concern for (good?) health dominated the outflows, comprising almost 50 percent of annual household expenditure (Naponen & Kantor 2004). The vulnerability of the poor informal workers increases when they have to pay fully for their medical care with no subsidy or support. National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (1996-97&1997-98) combined report, stressed on their destitute livelihood which is totally cut from the mainstream progress. The report also lamented on the oppression and indignities they face during their entire life. The report lacks the spirit in providing any special welfare scheme for sewage workers in any states of India. If looked at, the report is in a way facsimile of 'Unorganized Sector Workers' Social Security Act, 2008'. The Act failed to address the heterogeneous character of unorganised sector where affordability and paying capacity of employers as well as the needs of workers for social security are different for different activities (as cited in Hirway 2006). As consequence, the objective got more diluted where attention was not prioritized to the specific needs of workers under different categories. Presence of this lackadaisical attitude is more pronounced in the report of 'Social Security for Unorganised Workers' published by National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector in May, 2006. The case of removal of Life Insurance Corporation policy for Pune sewage workers of late in October 2007 draws attention to such analogy. For a sewage worker wh o is also from the unorganized sector, the situation is more grim compared to others.

Upholding the dignity of the individual as enshrined in the Preamble of Indian Constitution, 'Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013' aims "to provide for the prohibition of employment as manual scavengers, rehabilitation of manual scavengers and their families, and matters of connected therewith or incidental thereto." Therein, the Act states that "hazardous cleaning" by an employee without employer fulfilling his obligations to provide protective, as may be prescribed or provided in any other law, for the time being in force or rules made there under. Dating back to Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, which states, "no person, local authority or any agency shall, after the date of commencement of this Act...after the commencement of this, engage or employ directly or indirectly, a manual scavenger and every person so engaged or employed shall stand discharged immediately from any obligation, express or implied, to do manual scavenging." In spite of all the raising awareness cases, like the death of three men in sewage manholes at Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu and the death of three men at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in Central Delhi shows the continuance of this profession with negligence (Mathew 2013).

Social Dimension and Manual Scavenging

One cannot ignore the social angle while studying the sewage workers, specifically in India. Factors which are social are mainly based on caste system, indeed the practice of manual scavenging prevalent in India is taken up only by Dalits (Artis, Doobay & Lyon 2003). Allocation of labour on the basis of caste is one of the fundamental tenets of the caste system. As followed, Dalits have been assigned tasks and occupations that are deemed virtually polluting for other caste associated with their occupation that often involves them in cleaning public latrines and disposal of dead animal. Within Indian society, these Dalits are labeled as 'untouchables', subjecting to social ostracize. This practice of discrimination is so rampant that most scavengers live in segregated rural (slums in cities) colonies where access to common resources (like in case of drawing water from a well owned by a public community) is forbidden. The places where they dwell are covered with filth without any care for proper sanitation. It depicts a corollary of a Janus- faced modus operandi with modus vivendi instead.

The Constitution of India has placed Dalits under the category of Scheduled Caste. This special provision gives them reservation in different fields. Particular attention is also given on protecting their rights. As in case of employing sewage, an (offending) employer is liable to get prosecuted under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. This protecting shield however, lacks its strength due to poor information flow amongst the workers. Many of the workers are illiterate and have not visited even once the school premises in their lifetime. To benefit from fruits of education, schemes like Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan and Adult Education should be extended to this community.

The then Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA), Kumari Selja had the opinion that it is a matter of attitude and that as long as society considers cleaning and sweeping as jobs to be done by certain caste, then it will be difficult to end this practice, and that the scavenging and sweeping community will be liberated when the job of cleaning draws workforce from all the communities (Subrahmaniam 2010). In the words of M.K.Gandhi (1932, p. 23) "everyone must be his own scavenger. Evacuation is as necessary as eating; and the best thing would be for everyone to dispose of his own waste..." He lamented that scavenging has been looked down as the concern of a separate class in society, although historically, there is no such record as of who was first assigned to this sanitary service and is of the opinion that scavenging if taken up astutely "will help one to a true appreciation of the equality of man" (Ibid., p. 23).

Concluding remarks

Added to the factor of harsh laborious conditions, lack of sanitation is another driving agent which lowers down the average life of a sewage worker far below the Indian standard. Following the Millennium Development Goals, sanitation should be provided to this deprived section of the society (Millennium Development Goals Report 2010). Dialogues on successful case studies of international and regional experiences on better sanitation should be developed between India and other nations. The involvement of various stakeholders is essential too, for maintaining the healthy spirit in promoting transparency in the system. Like, the 'World Toilet Summit, 2007' in Delhi which brought tangible ways in providing sewage systems to the estimated 2.6 billion people in the world, including 700 million in India alone. It is a measure which can bring good sanitation for sewage workers- leading a good health.

Private- Public partnership is a popular (economic) term in present market world. Most municipal agencies in India have opted for this unison for improving service delivery to civic life. Contractors (private) are given the task for handling the management of employees. In most cases, a contractor is responsible also for appointing and employing a sewage worker. It is where the whole corruption roots in the form of social and cultural, and physical (material) factors.

Contractors do not, generally belong from Dalit communities. As a consequence, in most cases, the 'untouchability' factor deters them in providing basic safety gears to sewage workers. Besides, the greed for profit makes them (contractors) hijack the products (here the safety equipments) procured through government schemes in the mid -way to make quick money. The case of Delhi Jal Board draws such similarity, where despite in records availability (with employers) of safety equipment, a sewage worker is left only with a pick, a hoe and a bucket. Redressing this cause, a Dalit rights groups, The National Campaign for Dignity and Rights of Sewage and Allied Workers filed a lawsuit in Delhi High Court on July 2007. It was against four separate New Delhi municipal agencies, including Delhi Jal Board, which employ the largest numbers of sewage workers. The suit aims to achieve two objectives - abolish the system of contractors and enforce the use of safety standards that would result in making the official at the municipality directly responsible for the labour conditions of sewage workers.

The problem of manual scavenging (for sewage worker) is not only a litany of ignorance and rejection (of human rights). Availability of supportive infrastructure during sewage work is a cardinal requisite too. Like the narrow lanes in urban cities. The trucks which are available and capable of pumping out a blocked sewage drain often face problems while operating down the narrow lanes. Scavengers are still using the age old technologies, that too at their own risk. Hence, there is an emergent situation to think about the technologies related to manual scavenging. Machines too become obsolete to operate in very small sewer line. All these situations lead to manual scavenging- a Hobson's choice for sewage worker (The Hindu 2010). Therefore, appropriate study on urban landscape is required to avert this crisis. In recent years innovative vacuum sewerage system has been adopted for sustainable goals, such technologies have its own environmental, social and cost benefits. If such technologies are adopted then there are possibilities that the sewage related problems might be enormously minimized.

To summarize, one can argue that the laws related to occupational health are very little to do about the manual scavenging. These laws talk more about the organized sectors in India. But, we have enough evidence that most of the manual scavenging activities are done in unorganized sectors. Also, a lot of things have been discussed by the politicians, policy makers, but ground realities are still horrifying. A National Public Hearing on 'Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers and their Children in India' was held on March 2012 with an objective to increase the political will to address the issues and sensitize other sections of the society and involve them in rehabilitation effort. Though, there is some hope, yet, we need another social movement in the form of public awareness with regard to responsibilities related to cleanliness. Indeed, to eradicate the social stigma attached to manual scavenging is a joint endeavour.

References

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