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Manual Scavenging
Manual scavenging
Manual scavenging is an act of cleaning sewers or removal of waste from toilets without the use of proper equipments. In other words it is an act of cleaning septic tanks, removal of human excreta from dry latrines, and cleaning of gutters and sewer cleaning by people mainly of lower caste. Manual scavengers use basic tools such as a bucket lined with a sack and a handle for cleaning. The worker also carries the waste manually and takes it to the disposal sites. Manual scavenging is regarded as inhuman and is a violation of law. But still it is prevalent in almost every corner of the country. It is regarded as one such area which needs immediate attention as there are innumerable instances of deaths, health problems, societal problems faced by such workers.
Although manual scavenging was banned 25 years ago with the passing of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, but it continues to find practitioners. The occupation persists mainly because of the continued presence of insanitary latrines. There are various reasons that leads to manual scavenging. One of them being poorly constructed septic tanks, which are not possible to be cleaned by machines and hence forces people to enter septic tanks. Another one being the fact that, many cities do not have sewerage that covers the whole city. Sometimes, sewage lines are connected to storm water drains which get clogged and demand human intervention.
People who fall at the bottom of the social hierarchy take up this job to earn their living without being aware of the consequences. They usually suffer with Hepatitis A, E. coli, Rotovirus, Norovirus, and pinworms. Sewer workers generally die as young as 40, falling prey to multiple health problems. When workers are exposed to harmful poisonous gases inside the septic tanks they faint and die. Every year we see hundreds of manual scavengers dying. The problems has reached to such an extent that the people engaged in such work have accepted this as an occupation and are continuing to practise it. They have accepted this as an easy form of earning a living. Workers engaged in such activities are of the opinion that they are disabled for all other jobs other than this. They also face societal problems where landlords are unwilling to rent their houses to them.
Manual scavenging is not only a caste-based but also a gender-based occupation with 90 per cent of them being women. Where in one side we have Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan where we talk about providing adequate sanitary facilities to women on the contrary we have women cleaning human excreta from dry-pit latrines and humiliating them. Irony, isn’t it? There were reports claimed by various States having just 2-3 deaths every year due to manual scavenging, wherein they are hiding the actual figures.
In order to curb this practise laws must be enforced and Governmental institutions should not be reluctant to take appropriate steps. Contractors engaged in hiring such workers must be arrested. There is also a need for creating awareness among the public about the effects and consequences involved in manual scavenging.
