Life Lessons

If there is any government department where the caste system is the most prevalent even today,it is that of conservancy workers,says Haralkar.

“Around 90 per cent of the 40,000-odd conservancy workers in Mumbai are Dalits. The department has even unofficially made 100 per cent reservation for Dalits. These families have been sweepers for generations because only Dalits have,through history,been known to clean filth with bare hands. I have been trying to break this vicious cycle,” he says.

With housing being one of the biggest issues in the city,sweepers have over the years encouraged their children to continue with the profession so that they can continue living in the staff quarters.

“Such is the extent of hopelessness and neglect among these people that they opt for the easiest way out. As per municipal service rules,conservancy jobs can be inherited and that is what they do. They never try to break away from poverty and stigma,” says Haralkar. His three sons went on to become a photographer,a journalist and a finance consultant.

Haralkar,who set up the ‘Safai Kamgar Sanghatana’ in 1971 while he was a sweeper,started the ‘Eklavya Abhyasika’ in 1998. After working as a sweeper for over 12 years,Haralkar had moved on to the job of a painter within the same department by then. He thought the best way to break the cycle of subjugation was through guidance at the school level.

After repeated requests to the BMC,Haralkar finally got the permission to start evening lessons in the two civic schools. Most children attending the classes live in the slums of Parel and Sion. The tutorials cater to around 1,000 a year children. Late in the evening,when most schools are locked,you can see a tutorial in progress here. It is impossible for these children to study at home,usually surrounded by alcoholic fathers and outside in their community that keeps witnessing drunkards getting into fights.

“My job has been to counsel these children against taking a broom in their hands in future. Every time a child from here goes on to pursue a college education,I feel successful to an extent,” he says. Students from nearby colleges such as Khalsa,Kirti and Ruia come and take lectures as a part of their NSS activities. Pratham,an NGO working for education of the underprivileged, has also helped the organisation to a great extent.

Haralkar was awarded a cash prize of Rs 10,000 under the Seva Puraskar,instituted by the Shri Ganesh Mahanidhi in 1999. He used the money to pay monthly stipends to teachers assisting him at the two schools.

When asked what makes him happiest,pat comes the reply. “To see my students excel.” Of his recent pupils,Haralkar recollects Snehlata More,who became a doctor at KEM Hospital and Sunil Kamble who acts in the TV serial ‘Shivaji Maharaj’.