The inhuman practice of manual scavenging lives on

Kolar: Despite being declared illegal, the practice of manual scavenging is still rampant in certain parts of the country, even after 65 years of Independence. The pictures of manual scavengers emptying a pit of human waste at Kolar in Karnataka can disgust one.

Dealing with the extreme stench, inhaling toxic gases, it is one of the most inhuman jobs in the world. They earn Rs 100 each for cleaning a pit of human waste and the only way they bring themselves to do this is by staying dead drunk on the job.

Prabhu, a safai karmachari in Kolar Gold Fields said, "We drink from the age of 10 years. We can't enter a pit if we are not drunk, so we drink from the previous night. I can't eat if I see food as I think of the waste in the pit. Many friends have died young because of breathing problems."

Manual scavenging was banned in Karnataka in 1970 and across India in 1995. But a people's union for civil liberty report says that even today 8000 manual scavengers live by clearing human waste in Karnataka. Apart from government apathy, socially too, they are considered untouchables and have little chance of getting other jobs.

People's Union For Civil Liberties Convenor YJ Rajendran said, "Untouchables are actually involved in manual scavenging and not others. Almost 90 to 95 per cent of manual scavengers are from the madiga community. So it's clear that the entire system, both the government and the society sustain status quo."

Most of them work with no protective gear, inhaling the toxic methane gas.

Geetha has four children. Her husband Babu, a manual scavenger, died last year, claimed by asthma. Geetha has no job and no means to support her children.

"No one is ready to give us work. I have four children, what do I do? I don't have money to fix the roof in the rains. My children will also become manual scavengers," Geetha said.

It has taken nearly six deaths at Kolar for the government to wake up to the situation.

Former law minister of Karnataka Suresh Kumar said, "If any single case comes to our notice, the project director and the commissioner will be held responsible and he will be dealt with suitably."

Even though the Karnataka Government banned manual scavenging in 1970, people of Kennedy lanes in Kolar field continue to clear gold pits because the society doesn't want them to move on. Now the people there hope that the Government will take the situation much more seriously and help them find decent jobs.

Reacting to this, Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes PL Punia said, "I will raise this issue in Parliament, Planning Commission and talk to the minister of Social Justice and empowerment. This must stop in a civilised society. This will be task taken up by my commission immediately."

The National Human Rights commission also reacted saying, "Merely having a law in place banning manual scavenging would not do much, unless it is effectively implemented throughout the country in letter and spirit. The contents

of the news story as shown on CNN-IBN, if true, raise a serious issue of human rights violation of the people compulsively engaged in manual scavenging."

65 years of independence, manual scavenging is still a realty in India. Your thoughts?

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