Almost every day, tucked away in newspaper as ‘briefs’, there are reports of “accidental” deaths of people who clean clogged sewer lines. Most of those who die are young and probably their families’ sole bread-winners. More importantly, most of those who work to clean the muck belong to the lowest rung of the caste hierarchy — the dalits. They have been forced by ‘tradition’ to carry out such nauseating tasks.Sixty years after Independence, as India hurtles into the 21st century riding high on a 9 per cent economic growth rate, there’s another big blot staring her in the face: manual scavenging. Despite the government’s plans of eradicating manual scavenging by 2007 and rehabilitating all manual scavengers by 2008, there are still 5 to 8 lakh human beings who depend on this “profession” for their livelihood, according to a recent Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report presented to the Lok Sabha. Mind you, this is after the government has already spent Rs 620 crore on their rehabilitation during 1997-2002. Terming manual scavenging a “national shame”, the PAC has pulled up the ministry of social justice and empowerment for its “callous” attitude towards the issue — from undertaking a survey of those who need to be rehabilitated, to a lack of time-bound action plan.However, until such time as the government actually achieves what it preaches, the least that it can do is make it compulsory for civic authorities to provide protective gear and instruments to check poisonous gases. While there is still no substantive data on the health and safety status of sewer and sanitation workers, independent studies show that such workers are exposed to a variety of toxic gases and often suffer from skin, gastro-intestinal and breathing problems. Yes, it has been 17 years since we enacted the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, which aimed at abolishing the practice by declaring the employment of manual scavengers to remove human excreta an offence. Yes, the working rules are there about providing gloves, shoes and other protective gear to such workers. But how many civic bodies are implementing them? Even as our cities aspire for world-class status, with the metro lines, high-speed bus corridors and flyovers criss-crossing the landscape, why hasn’t the government thought of investing in better equipment for cleaning sewage pipes? Why does a human being still have to enter clogged manholes and clean them manually? And, why is manual scavenging still being practised even in a fast-modernising public sector organisation like the Indian Railways?Next year there will be new targets and more expenditure under the “national scheme” for the rehabiliation of scavengers and their dependants. And once again the government will sleepwalk like Lady Macbeth, muttering,”Out, out, damned spot!”
