Last week , in Vadodara , Gujarat ,seven people who ventured into a septic tank to clean it up died . Isnt it shocking that though we should have abolished manual scavenging, it continues in our nation & ends fatally ?And yet, we are not bothered because , those who die were not living any way. Because, those who end up cleaning septic tanks do so ,because they are supposed to that, as per the caste system & they are not good at anything else. And anyways, how does it matter if the poorest of the poor die doing such menial jobs ?
As per directions which our State or rather the nation is supposed to follow in governance, Article 42 , which is a Directive Principle of State Policy as enshrined in the Indian Constitution states , "The State shall make provisions for securing just & humane conditions of work & for maternity relief. "
Manual scavenging is the most degradable & inhuman work that can be done by anybody .And not only, has it continued to persist in India, people are forced to eke out a living , cleaning public & private latrines & toilets. And more often than not, it ends in loss of lives. And what is even more deplorable is that no safety gear is provided to the people who clean up the septic tanks, latrines & toilets. And if this is the case with the Municipal Corporations of Metros, the less said about the others, the better .A film "Court "has touched on this pitiable conditions of the sanitation workers & yet, lessons are hard to learn for us. Because , we are least affected by deaths of others especially if it is some sanitation worker / s.
Manual scavenging was banned two decades ago & yet , because of our adherence to the caste system, we continue to employ the sanitation workers to manually clean public latrines, toilets, gutters & the like. And the wages they earn is the bare minimum. And there is no insurance or any other form of protection even absence of safety gear ,against diseases infections, etc.The deaths of sanitation workers has become a regular feature in our nation & yet, it hardly matters to anybody because the manual scavengers are nobody to the nation.
And none of the other castes seem to find anything objectionable with manual scavenging. There is no demand, that there should be reservations for the positions of manual scavengers for obvious reasons. And yet, all join protests to ask that reservation should end for the scheduled castes & tribes as they have taken undue advantages & continue to do so.If the disadvantaged had taken any benefits whatsoever , they would have already gotten ahead in life .And no manual scavenger would be left to do the dirtiest work .And yet the fact that , manual scavengers are the first persons to come to mind when the dirtiest, unhygenic work needs to be done symbolizes that manual scavenging is the result of casteism & the reason for casteism & all its ill effects.
And this menial work if done by machine would have cost Rs 3,500/- only for the cleaning of the septic tank in Vadadara .Since labour of sanitation workers is the cheapest of the cheap, no machine was hired. And the result, is tragedy or rather seven fatalities.
And yet, this preventable tragedy of seven deaths has ignited a debate .Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra Group had tweeted that he was shocked & saddened by the loss of lives & he was ready to finance mechanization of scavenging work. Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood thespian tweeted that he had given some machines for scavenging work to BMC. Even the union of sanitation workers ,the National Commission for Safai Karmacharis is in favour of introduction of mechanised cleaning of sewers , septic tanks etc.
Lets trust, that this argument in favour of mechanised scavenging comes to fruition.And all human beings are able to live with dignity in this Bharat desha !Then only will the idea of Swacch Bharat ring true !
As per directions which our State or rather the nation is supposed to follow in governance, Article 42 , which is a Directive Principle of State Policy as enshrined in the Indian Constitution states , "The State shall make provisions for securing just & humane conditions of work & for maternity relief. "
Manual scavenging is the most degradable & inhuman work that can be done by anybody .And not only, has it continued to persist in India, people are forced to eke out a living , cleaning public & private latrines & toilets. And more often than not, it ends in loss of lives. And what is even more deplorable is that no safety gear is provided to the people who clean up the septic tanks, latrines & toilets. And if this is the case with the Municipal Corporations of Metros, the less said about the others, the better .A film "Court "has touched on this pitiable conditions of the sanitation workers & yet, lessons are hard to learn for us. Because , we are least affected by deaths of others especially if it is some sanitation worker / s.
Manual scavenging was banned two decades ago & yet , because of our adherence to the caste system, we continue to employ the sanitation workers to manually clean public latrines, toilets, gutters & the like. And the wages they earn is the bare minimum. And there is no insurance or any other form of protection even absence of safety gear ,against diseases infections, etc.The deaths of sanitation workers has become a regular feature in our nation & yet, it hardly matters to anybody because the manual scavengers are nobody to the nation.
And none of the other castes seem to find anything objectionable with manual scavenging. There is no demand, that there should be reservations for the positions of manual scavengers for obvious reasons. And yet, all join protests to ask that reservation should end for the scheduled castes & tribes as they have taken undue advantages & continue to do so.If the disadvantaged had taken any benefits whatsoever , they would have already gotten ahead in life .And no manual scavenger would be left to do the dirtiest work .And yet the fact that , manual scavengers are the first persons to come to mind when the dirtiest, unhygenic work needs to be done symbolizes that manual scavenging is the result of casteism & the reason for casteism & all its ill effects.
And this menial work if done by machine would have cost Rs 3,500/- only for the cleaning of the septic tank in Vadadara .Since labour of sanitation workers is the cheapest of the cheap, no machine was hired. And the result, is tragedy or rather seven fatalities.
And yet, this preventable tragedy of seven deaths has ignited a debate .Anand Mahindra, the chairman of the Mahindra Group had tweeted that he was shocked & saddened by the loss of lives & he was ready to finance mechanization of scavenging work. Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood thespian tweeted that he had given some machines for scavenging work to BMC. Even the union of sanitation workers ,the National Commission for Safai Karmacharis is in favour of introduction of mechanised cleaning of sewers , septic tanks etc.
Lets trust, that this argument in favour of mechanised scavenging comes to fruition.And all human beings are able to live with dignity in this Bharat desha !Then only will the idea of Swacch Bharat ring true !
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