Safai Karmachari Andolan, an organisation working to abolish manual scavenging from India, may actually succeed in eradicating the practice by 31 December this year. The SKA has already put an end to manual scavenging in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Haryana by demolishing "dry latrines", the old-style non-flush toilets. The SKA wants the 1993 court order declaring manual scavenging "unlawful" to be implemented. Accordingly, it has filed a plea in the Supreme Court, where the matter will come up for hearing in the first week of November.
Since 30 September, the SKA has started bus yatras across 20 states to force the Governments there to make manual scavengers leave the illegal profession. The yatras will culminate in Delhi on 31 October. Bezwada Wilson, who initiated the movement, says that manual scavenging still exists in some states: "It is most prevalent in UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. But Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are some of the states that have agreed to abolish it."
The SKA is also carrying out an all-India survey to build a database of the people who are still in the profession so that they can be persuaded to leave and be rehabilitated. The SKA wants to take the help of the women who have left the profession to fulfil its goal. "When I initiated this drive, people were ashamed to talk about it. But now they recognise the importance of protesting. The women have started protesting and shouting slogans like 'We are not dirty'," said Wilson. He adds that it is strange that most people are not even aware that manual scavenging is illegal. "What is important is that the Government considers the first step. We are not expecting too much to happen. People do not appreciate these karmacharis' work and look down upon them. This has to change."
The demands made by the SKA include an official apology from the Indian Government for violating the human dignity and rights of safai karmacharis, a rehabilitation package that includes an immediate relief of Rs 10,000, a minimum of Rs 5 lakh, five acres of fertile land, special pension for single women workers, pension for the aged workers, free education for children and job-oriented technical education for the youth.
"On 1 November we have a culmination meeting where we will talk with the Government about our demands," said Wilson.
31 October — The Sunday Guardian
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