It was a proud moment for Lakshmi Nanda, a resident of Alwar in Rajasthan, when she received a ‘priceless’ Rs 500 from President Pratibha Patil as a reward for reciting a poem she had written. The group of more than 30 women scavengers led by Chairman of Sulabh International Bindeshwar Pathak, who are on their way to the United Nations to participate in a cultural programme and meet important personalities there on July two, had called on the President on Tuesday evening. At the brief function, the 27-year-old Nanda recited a poem Patan se Udhan ki Taraf (from downfall to emancipation) in which she spoke about uplift of a woman scavenger. The President was left spellbound after hearing the poem and immediately handed over Rs 500 to Nanda as a prize. "I am so touched by the gesture of the President. This currency note is priceless for me and I am not going to spend it," a jubilant Nanda said. She is a part of the group of women who had been in the business of manual scavenging till she came across Pathak who introduced them to starting their own business like making papads, pickles and noodles. Patil assured the group that the centuries-old manual scavenging practice would soon be abolished in the country and said she would take up the matter of ending the practice with the government. Patil expressed great satisfaction over the efforts of these liberated scavengers who not only left the practice, but also started social initiative to motivate their colleagues. With the aim to showcase their path breaking contributions in the context of social reform, Sulabh movement founder has planned to make them walk the ramp with top models like Mark Robinson, Carol Gracias, Jessy Randhawa, Rahul Dev, Aryan Vaid and Shahwar Ali at one of the United Nations General Assembly Halls on July two. This is the first time when scavengers have stitched clothes for the fashion models under the guidance of internationally-known Abdul Haldar, who designs clothes for Michael Jackson. Pathak said the programme by these liberated scavenger women at UN headquarters is a symbol of the liberation of centuries-old scavenging practice in India and added that Mahatma Gandhi wanted to eradicate manual scavenging and bring scavengers into the national mainstream. The UN honour to the 30 former scavengers is a fulfillment of his dream, he said. Four years ago, all the 30 downtrodden women were engaged in the traditional family practice of cleaning night soil in their localities. Today, each one of them is now an active member of a group to motivate her former colleagues to leave the life of drudgery and humiliation. They were helped in giving up their work by a vocational training centre, Nai Disha, an initiative of the Sulabh Sanitation movement in Alwar. A book containing success story of these women titled Princess of Alwar would also be released.
