By Shuriah Niazi
NEW DELHI (AA) – Activists in India have contested the government's claim that it has abolished the practice of manual scavenging – that is carrying human excreta in buckets for disposal.
For over centuries, lower-caste Dalits in India were employed to manually clean human excreta using hand tools and then move it to disposal locations sometimes several miles away.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, coinciding World Toilet Day, which is being observed on Friday, Bezwada Wilson, national convener of the Safai Karamchari Andolan -- a voluntary organization working for the rights of sanitation workers -- said the practice was continuing in many Indian states.
“Government may deny that not a single manual scavenger exists in India but in reality, the practice of manual scavenging continues in many states,” he said.
Although outlawed in 2013, Wilson said as many as 472 people have died from 2016 -2020 due to manual scavenging.
“This year till July 31, at least 26 deaths were recorded and the details were sent to the government,” he said.
He pointed out that the government does not consider cleaning sewers and septic tanks as manual scavenging.
Sanjeev Kumar, secretary of Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) – an organization working for the safety, dignity, and rights of sewer workers – said even in the national capital New Delhi, the sewer cleaners do not get safety gears and end up contracting fatal diseases.
“Diseases related to sewer cleaning are long-term and fatal, which come under the category of occupational health diseases. But due to non-availability of a facility of insurance to the sewer workers, they get deprived of it,” he said.
According to a report released in 2019 by WaterAid India, a non-profit organization, a manual scavenger dies in India every five days.
The report had taken data from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) -- a statutory body working for the rights of sanitation workers under the Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment.
Kumar claimed that sewer workers are being exploited at every level and even their deaths are underreported.
“In many cases, their deaths are not reported. This shows how the government treats them,” he said.
The Human Rights Watch reported in 2014 that Valmiki community members (a sub-caste of Dalits) were being engaged by urban municipal corporations, to clean excrement, sewer, and septic tanks manually.