Freedom, freedom, freedom!

To the Pariahs, to the Tiyas, to the Pulayas, freedom!

To the Paravas, to the Kuravas, to the Maravas, freedom

Subramania Bharati (1882 -1921)

The celebrated Tamil poet Subramania Bharati, who is known for his patriotic poems and songs, tried throughout his life to create awareness among the people on their bondedness to the colonial rule and to the caste hierarchy and the need to come out of them. He preached that all human beings in this land - whether they are those who preach the vedas or who belong to other castes, are one.

Dr. B R Ambedkar, the great proponent of dalit rights, tried to break the edifice of discrimination in India. He believed in people living with dignity. He once said, “The question is not whether a community lives or dies, the question is on what plane it lives. There are different modes of survival. But all are not equally honorable. For an individual as well as a society, there is a gulf between merely living and living worthily. To fight in a battle and live in glory is one mode. To beat a retreat to surrender and to live the life of a captive is also a mode of survival.”

Failed Mission

To give more effect to Article 17 of the Constitution, Parliament passed the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955, which was made more stringent later, and renamed Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955. In spite of the Act, the attitude or crimes against the so-called untouchables continued, which forced the government to rethink and come up with laws like the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. But these laws, as usual, are tightly bound in red tapes and silently witness the crimes that grip this vulnerable section of the society. The balmikis always felt the sharp edge of caste prejudice and of feudal violence, stories of which continue to seep into the landscape of dalit history. It was such an impasse that was witnessed on 27 August 2005, in Gohana town on the border of Delhi, in Haryana`s Sonepat district when the upper caste Jat villagers torched more than 50 houses belonging to balmiki families to avenge the murder of an upper caste man allegedly by a balmiki youth.

In India, of late a new middle class has emerged from many communities. This is, however, almost invisible in a large number of communities, which are termed as `untouchables`. The bhangis, chamars, churhas, halalkhors, yanadis, balmikis... are different names in different states for those who do a similar kind of job - cleaning others` filth. In modern terminology, they are the safai mazdoors (sanitary workers), who stands much lower in the structure of the hierarchical caste pyramid. As Suresh Richpal, a balmiki and one of the hundreds of manual scavengers who carry human excreta correctly puts it, “We do the work a mother does for her children, but we are not looked upon as mothers but as scum.” (New York Times, 19 September1998).

In the eyes of a caste-based society, the safai karmacharis embody the worst form of impurity because they handle and dispose night soil, dirt and filth.  Safai Mazdoor is a general category used for all workers who do cleaning work. Sewage workers, solid waste handlers, road sweepers, garbage cleaners, hospital waste handlers and waste treatment plant workers, all come under one category  safai karmacharis. The three major employers of safai karmacharis are the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Delhi Jal Board. They are also employed by the railways, educational departments, hospitals, private establishments and contractors.

The safai karmacharis sweep the roads, streets, clean public toilets and urinals and fill refuse removal trucks. Besides the safai karmachari, there is another category - the night soil carriers.

Night Soil Carriers

In India, the employment of night soil carriers is prohibited by the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. According to the Act, employing workers to remove/carry human excreta and constructing dry latrines without proper drainage facilities can lead to imprisonment of up to one year and/or a fine up to Rs 2,000. In spite of the Act, there are hundreds of manual scavengers, who still remove human and animal excreta using brooms, small tin plates and baskets and carry it on their heads to the disposal grounds. According to field researchers of the Safai Karmachari Andolan, an organisation which works for total abolition of manual scavenging, it exists even in the national capital. “Meena, wife of Mukesh, who lives in Block No. D3 of Nandnageri, Rajkumari who lives in Kancheepura Jhuggi and Nandu in Daryaganj are all manual scavengers earning nothing more then Rs1,000-Rs1,200 per month,” says a field researcher with the Safai Karmachari Andolan.

One organization that employs manual scavengers in large numbers is the Indian Railways. According to Railway sources, there are around 30,000 passenger coaches fitted with open discharge toilets. The sources say manual scavenging cannot be eradicated without concretising platform tracks with the provision of washable aprons on all important stations. It is excruciating to realise the fact that even the Rs 24,000-crore Integrated Railways Modernisation Plan does not have a single provision for the eradication of manual scavenging. It is yet to see what the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007), which puts eradication of night soil carrying by 2007 as one of its goals, would achieve.

The Supreme Court has directed the states on the prevention of carrying of night soil and to submit the action-taken report within six months. While addressing a press conference on 1 September 2005, Santhosh Chowdhary, the chairperson of the National Commission of Safai Karmacharis has fixed 31 December 2005 to end the carrying of night soil.

Employees on the Streets

When you compare the condition of manual scavengers, the rest of the safai karmacharis would seem better off. In the MCD, the safai karmacharis are involved in three main categories of work; sweeping roads, filling of refuse removal trucks and that of the beldars. There are altogether 45,266 safai karmacharis in the MCD with 31,315 of them regular workers and the rest 13,951 daily wagers. According to KD Akolia, the Additional Commissioner of MCD, the sanctioned posts are 35,263.

In NDMC, sanitary workers and their allied categories come under seven categories---lorry beldar, DG beldar, rat catcher, dog catcher, varanda beldar, HRV beldar and silt lorry beldar. There are 2,021 sanitary workers with the NDMC as per the 2005-06 Budget book, of which 1,886 are permanent employees. There are at present 22 vacancies of sanitary workers in NDMC.

Among the sanitary workers, the highest risk is faced by the sewage workers. In Delhi, the sewage workers come under the Jal Board. At present, there are 5,500 sewage workers of which 4,000 are permanent.

In MCD only 30 per cent of the workers are women. The case is the same in NDMC. In the Jal Board, the number of women sewage workers is still less. “There is no contract involved with MCD in the sanitation work except for collection and transportation of waste. In MCD, this work is under a `public-private-partnership` (PPP),” says Akolia of MCD. The MCD is divided in to 12 zones out of which six come under the public-private-partnership. There are three companies, which are involved in sanitation work. In the West Zone, the private player is the Metro Waste Handling Pvt Ltd, in the South Central Zone it is the Daily Waste Management Pvt Ltd and in S Paharganj and Karol Bagh, it is A.G. Enviro, which is managing sanitation work. These companies deploy their workers for collection, segregation and transportation of waste. According to Akolia, outside the PPP, no worker is taken on contract.

Jagdeesh is a nala beldar with MCD since 1989. “Cleaning up nalas is becoming a contract work. It is the Junior, Zonal and Assistant Engineers who give the work on contract,” says Jagdeesh. According to him, the number of contract workers is on the rise. “I have been working on contract for MCD for the last one-and-a-half years,” says Ram Bhajan from Uttar Pradesh. He got a job in MCD through a contractor. His work started at 8 am and continued up to 4 pm. He swept the road, collected all the waste to a rickshaw and took it to the dustbin. “I was given Rs 1,600 as wages, out of which Rs 600 went to the rent,” he says. Today, Ram Bhajan does not have a job. The contractor replaced him with his 17-year-old son Jugnu, who is also paid the same wages.

“Under the Ambedkar Awas Yozana, there are 2,120 houses allotted for the safai karmacharis. The housing societies are located in Rohini, Jahangirpuri, Sunder Nagar and Nandnagari,” says Akolia. The NDMC also has such housing societies for its sanitary workers called `Harijan Colonies`. “The government has provided me an accommodation in the Harijan Colony near Khan Market,” says Palchand, a safai karmachari with NDMC. “For the house, Rs. 1,600 is deducted as rent and Rs 78 for water and electricity from my salary,” he adds. Palchand, a balmiki by caste, hails from Faridabad, Haryana and joined NDMC as a sweeper in 1974. He got the job through the employment exchange and became a permanent worker after three years. “In winter, my work is from 7 am to 3 pm and in summer it is between 6.30 am and 2.30 pm," he says. Provident Fund contribution is deducted from his salary and his take home salary is around Rs 5,155.

Krishnapal, who is from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh works as a sweeper with DLF, Gurgaon. He lives in Rangpuri Pahari, New Delhi and pedals all the way to Gurgaon everyday to reach his office before 7 am. He works under a contractor and is paid Rs. 1,800 from which he pays a rent of Rs 700 for the one-room jhuggi home where he lives with his family. His wife Brijesh does sweeping and mopping work in three middle class households nearby and gets Rs. 1,350. With the amount the husband and wife makes, they have to support six children, three girls and three boys.

Lure of Sarkari Job

Almost all the safai karmacharis whom Labour File met during the course of field work for this article said they had five or more children. Many of them were uneducated and if educated, it was only up to Class VIII. “Why study?`` asked 14-year-old Pappu, son of a safai karmachari. “To lift kooda (waste), educational qualification is not required,” he adds. Pappu`s view is echoed by majority of the children of safai karmacharis. They neglect their studies. The meager income of their fathers, the atmosphere in the harijan bastis, hostile attitude of the outsiders, everything contributes to the neglect of studies. The main reason, however, is their expectation of getting the same job. “For the last few years I am working in the NDMC,” says Subhash, son of Palchand. Subhash got the job of a safai karmachari in 1999 for six months. “No temporary worker gets work throughout the year,” he says. “But if you have a good rapport with the authorities you can continue,” he adds. Giving bribe to get a job done is not unusual in NDMC. “If a casual worker or a permanent worker is absent, it may not get reflected in the muster roll if they are willing to pay Rs. 50 and Rs. 100 respectively to the Assistant Sanitary Inspectors,” says Subhash.

To get selected a second time, Subhash had to pay Rs 7,000 to the officials. The irony is that if he works for six months the amount he makes is Rs 16,800 at Rs. 2,800 per month and the bribe was nearly half of that money. “I know people who have paid more than Rs 10,000 for the getting a temporary job in NDMC,” says Subhash. “After all, a sarkari job is a sarkari job. I may become a permanent worker one day,” he adds with an unabashed optimism. The lure of a government job confines and stagnates the children of safai karmacharis to the vortex of filth. Thus, entangled with the illusion of becoming a permanent worker one day and uneducated, they live a life of great expectations.

Recruitment

The land under the MCD is 13,397 sq km. To get a job in MCD, the candidates will have to register themselves in the employment exchanges. Majority of the workers are from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Delhi. MCD announces the vacancies through advertisements and public notices. The advertisement is issued once in five years. From among the massive number of candidates, MCD shortlists and selects about 5,000 people. The eligibility for a safai karmachari is that the candidate should be physically fit and mentally sound. Before making the employees permanent, MCD recruits them as substitute karmacharis. A daily wager thus put in the same effort as that of a regular employee. When a vacancy arises, the substitute is made a regular employee.

No job preference is given to the family members of safai karmacharis except under compassionate grounds. Five per cent of all jobs are reserved for family members of those labourers who die during work. In 1997, the Delhi government introduced a provision of five per cent reservation to the kin of deceased sewage workers. During 1997-2001, 23 people were recruited under this category.

Lives Under Risk

The risk involved with sewage work is high. The unnatural work and exposure to toxic gases have resulted in the high mortality rate of workers. A survey conducted by trade unions reveals that approximately 300 workers have died in the last two-three years. “Sewage contains numerous toxic substances that can pose risks to the worker`s health. The working conditions maximize the exposure of the beldars to harmful ingredients, thereby increasing the mortality and morbidity rates of the workers at the workplace. Thirty-three workers have died in last two years (2003-2005) to accidents that took place while they worked on blocked sewer lines,” states a study conducted by the Centre for Education and Communication, a labour rights NGO based in New Delhi.

The workers under the MCD and NDMC clean up the nalas but the sewerage lines are cleaned by the safai karmacharis employed by the Jal Board. “The hospital waste, factory waste, domestic waste… everything enter the sewer line and it is this manhole that the beldar enters to clean up risking his life,” says Ramu a sewer worker with the Jal Board. Ramu, who hails from Aligaon, has been working with the Jal Board since 1996. He is not yet a permanent worker and gets a salary of Rs 3,100.

According to the rules, which have not changed in the last 50 years, a beldar is required to cater to one mile of sewage line. “Five decades ago one mile of sewer line carried only ten buckets per day but now it has increased a thousand fold,” says Hargyan Singh, President of the All India Safai Mazdoor Congress (AISMC). Daily, a sewage worker will have to clean up around 12-13 pits. They have to take the wet filth to the koodadan in a hand cart. Many a times, to clean up a pit they have to go 6ft-15ft deep. “Once we enter a man hole and come out, the general public keeps a distance,” says Suraj Prakash, a sanitary worker. “We cannot blame them because, we ourselves cannot stand the stench.”

There are many unions active in the Jal Board of which the AISMC is among the oldest with an all-India strength of 45,000 workers. This is excluding the contract workers in the Jal Board. AISMC does not have contract workers as their members. “We do listen to their problems and give advice and suggestions,” says Ram Dayal Seth, its General Secretary.

Earlier, the safai karmcharis were not given any holidays or any other benefits. There wasn`t anyone to listen to their woes. Several years ago, Sardar Bhuta Singh was among those who came forward to unite them and as a culmination of many such efforts, Prof. Jaswanth Rai founded the union in Maharashtra in 1959.

Once Beldar Always Beldar

Beldars in the Jal Board remain as beldars. They are not promoted throughout their service and retire in the same post. Sonpal started his work with the Jal Board at the age of 18. He will be retiring this year after 42 years of service, as beldar, of course. He stays in a tiny government flat in Pratap Bagh, which he will have to leave when he retires.

Ram Singh joined the Jal Board in 1983. He works as a driver of the truck, which carries the waste, but he is put under beldar category. Leelaram does the work of a mason, but he too comes under the category of beldar. One of the main problems faced by the Jal Board workers is the long wait for becoming a permanent worker. A casual employee has to work for 10 to 15 years before becoming a permanent worker. According to the rules, after puting in a service of 720 days, a worker should be given the status of a permanent employee. “I joined the Jal Board in 1979 but become permanent only on 1989,” says Leelaram.

Another problem the workers confront is the lack of housing. “We are Hindustani refugees who do not have a place to stay,” says Hargyan Singh. The migrant workers who come for work and the one who manages to get a job end up living in slum clusters in the city.

No risk allowance is paid to the sewage workers. The unions have demanded it, but till now no positive initiative has been taken. But the sewage workers who work for CPWD and hospitals are given risk allowance.

One of the positive things with the Jal Board is its quick disposal of retirement settlements. When Sonpal retires in December 2005, he will be getting around Rs 250,000-Rs 300,000 as settlement. In 1991, the union went on a three-day strike to stop the delay in retirement settlements. “Now every worker who retires will have a sent-off and the same day he will be handed the entire amount he is entitled to,” says Ram Dayal Seth.

Wants Dignity

Till 1995, 99 per cent of the safai karmacharis were from the balmiki community. There is no caste-based reservation for employing sanitary workers. But majority are from balmiki community. “Jhadu (broom) or kooda (waste) is not lifted by none other than balmikis,” says Ram Bhajan, a sanitary worker. Many attempts were made to bring the alienation and deprivation of safai karmacharis to the limelight. One such attempt was the innovative programme commonly known as Sulabh Shauchalaya. “To restore dignity to the safai karmacharis and to bring them into the mainstream of the society by providing education, training and thus raising their social status, Bindeshwar Pathak, the father of sanitation movement founded Sulabh, says the website of Sulabh International. Sublah Shauchalays are pay-and-use toilets. Across the country, there are around 11 million pour-and-flush toilets constructed by Sulabh International. Besides, it has about 6,000 public toilet-cum-bath complexes. 

Sulabh has changed the concept that it need not be only balmikis who work as safai karmacharis. Now with a big network, Sulabh has in different states employees from almost all castes. “I am a Rajput. After started working in this centre, I am eating and sharing the room with my colleague who is a Balmiki. I would have never done it back home in my village,” says the manager (who prefers anonymity) of one of the shauchalayas in South Delhi.  A well-located shauchalaya is visited by about 400 people everyday. Some firmly believes that Sulabh has changed the attitude of the people. It may be true to an extent but the working conditions of sanitary workers with these units are deplorable.

“The workers in the shauchalayas are like bonded labourers,” says AISMC chief Hargyan Singh. “They are forced to stay in the toilet premises and are made to work with a meager pay,” he adds. Babloo Paswan has been working with the Sulabh Shauchalaya for the last three months. He gets a salary of Rs 2,000 per month and works from 7 am to 11 pm. “I have to stay in the shauchalaya itself,” he says. “The place where I worked earlier was at Ansal Plaza,” says Babloo who has been on contract with the Knight Frank company. Around 300 workers in the premises of the shopping mall are under this company.  The workers are paid Rs 2,500 as take home salary. Besides, Provident Fund is deducted from their salaries. The workers are entitled to only four holidays in a month.

Amar (name changed), who works for a shauchalaya, says: “Paapi petka sawal hei. Jeena hei to yahampe gulam banke jeena hei”(It is the issue of survival. If I have to live here, I have to live enslaved). Some of workers of Sulabh Shauchalayas expressed their dissatisfaction with the wages and the working hours. The dignity the organization preaches should also be extended to the workers it engage, they say.

Panacea for the Deprived

In 2004-2005, there was a demand raised by the unions of safai karmacharis to change their name to swatchata karmacharis. Will a change in the name be a solution for the uplift of these sanitary workers? There is no easy answer. To quote Dr. B R Ambedkar, “Caste cannot be abolished by inter caste dinners or stray instances of inter caste marriages. Caste is a state of mind. It is a disease of mind. The teachings of the Hindu religion are the root cause of this disease. We practice casteism and we observe Untouchability because we are enjoined to do so by the Hindu religion. A bitter thing cannot be made sweet. The taste of anything can be changed. But poison cannot be changed into nectar.”

Hail Bharatiyar! who said