Manual scavenging

Manual scavenging is a term used mainly in India for the manual removal of untreated human excreta from bucket toilets or pit latrines by hand with buckets and shovels. It has been officially prohibited by law in 1993 due to it being regarded as a caste-based, dehumanizing practice (if not done in a safe manner). It involves moving the excreta, using brooms and tin plates, into baskets, which the workers carry to disposal locations sometimes several kilometers away.[1] The workers, called scavengers (or more appropriately "sanitation workers"), rarely have any personal protective equipment. Manual scavenging is a caste-based occupation, with the vast majority of workers involved being women.[2]

Example for unsafe manual pit emptying (which could be termed "manual scavenging") of a pit latrine in Korogocho slums in Kenya

The employment of manual scavengers to empty a certain type of dry toilet that requires manual daily emptying was prohibited in India in 1993. The law was extended and clarified to include insanitary latrines, ditches and pits in 2013.[3]

According to Socio Economic Caste Census 2011, 180,657 households are engaged in manual scavenging for a livelihood.[4] The 2011 Census of India found 794,000 cases of manual scavenging across India.[5] The state of Maharashtra, with 63,713, tops the list with the largest number of households working as manual scavengers, followed by the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Karnataka.[6]

Similar occupations existed and still exist in other countries, usually known by other terms and given different degrees of government protection.

Definition
A short video shedding light on the unsafe and undignified working conditions of many "sanitation workers" in India (2018)
Another example for manual pit emptying (in Durban, South Africa) but with personal protective equipment and formalised occupation - therefore no longer regarded as "manual scavenging"

Manual scavenging refers to the unsafe and manual removal of raw (fresh and untreated) human excreta from buckets or other containers that are used as toilets or from the pits of simple pit latrines. The safe and controlled emptying of pit latrines, on the other hand, is one component of fecal sludge management.

The official definition of a manual scavenger in Indian law from 1993 is as follows:[7]

“Manual scavenger” means a person engaged or employed, at the commencement of this Act or at any time thereafter, by an individual or a local authority or an agency or a contractor, for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling in any manner, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit into which the human excreta from the insanitary latrines is disposed of, or railway track or in such other spaces or premises, as the Central Government or a State Government may notify, before the excreta fully decomposes in such manner as may be prescribed, and the expression “manual scavenging” shall be construed accordingly.

Not all forms of dry toilets involve "manual scavenging" to empty them, but only those that require unsafe handling of raw excreta. If on the other hand the excreta is already treated or pre-treated in the dry toilet itself, as is the case for composting toilets and urine-diverting dry toilets for example, then emptying these types of toilets is not classified as "manual scavenging". Container-based sanitation is another system that does not require manual scavenging to function even though it does involve the emptying of excreta from containers.

Also, emptying the pits of twin-pit pour-flush toilets is not classified as manual scavenging in India, as the excreta is already partly treated and degraded in those pits.

The International Labour Organization describes three forms of manual scavenging in India:[3]

  • Removal of human excrement from public streets and "dry latrines" (meaning simple pit latrines without a water seal, but not dry toilets in general)
  • Cleaning septic tanks
  • Cleaning gutters and sewers

Manual cleaning of railway lines of excreta dropped from toilets of trains is another form of manual scavenging in India.[8]

Current prevalence

Manual scavenging still survives in parts of India without proper sewage systems or safe fecal sludge management practices.[9] It is thought to be most prevalent in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.[3] Manual scavenging is a caste-based occupation, with the vast majority of workers involved being women.[2]

An estimate in 2018 put the number of "sanitation workers" in India at 5 million, and 50% of them being women.[10]

The biggest violator of this law in India is the Indian Railways where many train carriages have toilets dropping the excreta from trains on the tracks and who employ scavengers to clean the tracks manually.[8] The situation is being improved in 2018 by the addition of on-train treatment systems for the toilet waste.

Manual scavenging is traditionally a role determined by the outlawed caste system in India for members of the Dalit caste, usually from the Balmiki (or Valminki) or Hela subcaste.[3]

In March 2014, the Supreme Court of India declared that there were 96 lakh (9.6 million) dry latrines being manually emptied but the exact number of manual scavengers is disputed – official figures put it at less than 700,000.[11]

Manual scavenging is done with basic tools like thin boards and either buckets or baskets lined with sacking and carried on the head. Due to the nature of the job, many of the workers have related health problems.[3]

Initiatives for eradication

Legislation

In the late 1950s, freedom fighter G. S. Lakshman Iyer banned manual scavenging when he was the chairman of Gobichettipalayam Municipality, which became the first local body to ban it officially.[12][13] Sanitation is a State subject as per entry 6 of the Constitution. Under this, in February 2013 Delhi announced that they are banning manual scavenging, making them the first state in India to do so. District magistrates are responsible for ensuring that there are no manual scavengers working in their district. Within 3 years time municipalities, railways and cantonments must make sufficient sanitary latrines available.[14] The government of the state of Maharashtra has planned to abolish the menace of manual scavenging completely from the state soon. But by using Article 252 of the constitution which empowers Parliament to legislate for two or more States by consent and adoption of such legislation by any other State, the Government of India has enacted various laws .[15] The continuance of such discriminatory practice is violation of ILO’s Convention 111 (Discrimination in Employment and Occupation)[16]

The United Nations human rights chief welcomed in 2013 the movement in India to eradicate manual scavenging.[17]

The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993

After six states passed resolutions requesting the Central Government to frame a law, The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, drafted by the Ministry of Urban Development under the Narasimha Rao government,[18] was passed by Parliament in 1993.

The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 punishes the employment of scavengers or the construction of dry (non-flush) latrines with imprisonment for up to one year and/or a fine of Rs 2,000.[7] No convictions were obtained under the law during the 20 years it was in force.[19]

The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013 or M.S. Act 2013

Government has passed the new legislation in September 2013 and issued Government notification for the same. In December, 2013 Government has also formulated Rules-2013 called as "The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules 2013" or "M.S. Rules 2013". The details about Act and Rules are available on the website of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, GOI.

Further, the hearing on 27 March 2014 was held on Manual Scavenging of writ petition number 583 of 2003, and supreme Court has issued final orders and case is disposed of with various directions to the Government.

The broad objectives of the act are to eliminate unsanitary latrines, prohibit the employment of manual scavengers and the hazardous manual cleaning of sewer and septic tanks, and to maintain a survey of manual scavengers and their rehabilitation.[20]

Activism

In India in 1970s, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak introduced his "Sulabh" concept for building and managing public toilets in India, which has introduced hygienic and well-managed public toilet systems. Activist Bezwada Wilson founded a group in 1994, Safai Karmachari Andolan, to campaign for the demolition of then newly illegal 'dry latrines' (pit latrines) and the abolition of manual scavenging. Despite the efforts of Wilson and other activists, the practice persists two decades later.[21] In July 2008 "MissionSanitation" was a fashion show held by the United Nations as part of its International Year of Sanitation. On the runway were 36 previous workers, called scavengers, and top models to help bring awareness of the issue of manual scavenging.

The Movement for Scavenger Community (MSC) is an NGO founded in 2009 by Vimal Kumar with young people, social activists, and like-minded people from the scavenger community. MSC is committed to working towards the social and economic empowerment of the scavenger community through the medium of education.[22]

The "Campaign for Dignity" (Garima Abhiyan) in Madhya Pradesh in India has assisted more than 20,000 women to stop doing manual scavenging as an occupation.[23]

History

There is evidence of the existence of toilets with a water seal in the civilisations of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. These cities had toilets which were connected to an underground drainage system lined with burnt clay bricks.[24]

The practice of manual scavenging in India dates back to ancient times. According to the contents of sacred scriptures and other literature, scavenging by some specific castes of India has existed since the beginning of civilization.[25] One of the fifteen duties of slaves enumerated in Naradiya Samhita was of manual scavenging. This continues during the Buddhist and Mauraya period also.[26] Jahangir built a public toilet at Alwar, 120 km away from Delhi, for 100 families in 1556 AD.[27] Not much documentary evidence exists about its maintenance. Scholars have suggested that the Mughal women with purdah required enclosed toilets that needed to be scavenged.[28] It is pointed out that the bhangis (Chuhra) share some of the clan names with Rajputs, and propose that the bhangis are descendants of those captured in wars. There are many legends about the origin of bhangis, who have traditionally served as manual scavengers. One of them, associated with Lal Begi bhangis, describes the origin of bhangis from Mehtar.[29]

Municipal records from 1870 show that the British organized municipalities in India which built roads, parks, public toilets etc.[30] The British administrators organized systems for removing the fecal sludge and employed bhangis.[31]

Other countries

Manual scavenging also took place in Europe but not specifically linked to a caste-based occupation and not called "manual scavenging": In European history the terms "nightsoil collectors" or "nightmen" and gong farmers were used. The contemporary term for safe nightsoil collection is fecal sludge management. Towns with sanitation systems based on pail closets (bucket toilets in outhouses) relied on frequent emptying, performed by workers driving "honeywagons", a precursor to the vacuum truck now used to pump out septage from septic tanks. The municipal emptying of pail toilets continued in Australia into the second half of the twentieth century; these were known as dunnies and the workers were dunnymen.

In Haiti, this type of occupation is called bayakou.

See also

References
  1. "Human rights and manual scavenging" (PDF). Know Your Rights Series. National Human Rights Commission. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  2. "NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ELIMINATION OF MANUAL SCAVENGING" (PDF) (Press release).
  3. "Cleaning Human Waste: "manual scavenging", Caste and Discrimination in India" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  4. "Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should aim to stamp out manual scavenging".
  5. Umesh IsalkarUmesh Isalkar, TNN (30 April 2013). "Census raises stink over manual scavenging". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  6. "Manual scavenging still a reality". The Hindu. 9 July 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  7. The Employment Of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Govt. of India.
  8. "Manual Scavengers: Indian Railways in denial". OneWorld South Asia. 25 February 2013.
  9. "India's manual scavengers Clean-up - How to abolish a dirty, low-status job". The Economist. 10 July 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  10. "Sanitation Worker Project Animation (video)". Dalberg Global Development Advisors. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  11. "Safai Karamchari Andolan And Ors vs Union Of India And Ors". Supreme Court of India. 2014. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  12. Kannadasan, Akila (25 January 2012). "Remembering a great man". Features - Cinema. The Hindu. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  13. "Crusader against caste oppression and untouchability". The Hindu. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2015.
  14. "Delhi first state to ban manual scavenging." Hindustan Times. 27 February 2013.
  15. Bhasin, Agrima (October 5, 2012). "Washing off this stain will need more". Chennai, India: The Hindu. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  16. "National workshop on decent work for sanitation workers and workers in manual scavenging". Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  17. "UN News Global perspective, Human stories". 31 January 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  18. Bhasin, Agrima (3 October 2012). "Washing off this stain will need more". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
  19. "Get serious". The Hindu. Chennai, India. September 13, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  20. "Legislature on Eradication of Manual Scavenging". Press Information Bureau. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  21. "The 'untouchable' Indians with an unenviable job". The Independent. London. 15 October 2010.
  22. "Learn More". Movement for Scavenger Community – MSC. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  23. "Ashif Shaikh". socialworkinindia.in. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  24. "Primary History Indus Valley: Home Life". Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  25. Road to Freedom: A Sociological Study on the Abolition of Scavenging in India, Bindeshwar Pathak, Motilal Banarsidass Publisher, 1999. p. 37
  26. Road to Freedom: A Sociological Study on the Abolition of Scavenging in India, Bindeshwar Pathak, Motilal Banarsidass Publisher, 1999. p. 38
  27. Bindeshwar Pathak, Toilet History The Vacuum - Issue 18
  28. Road to Freedom: A Sociological Study on the Abolition of Scavenging in India, Bindeshwar Pathak, Motilal Banarsidass Publishe, 1999. p. 38
  29. The Bhangi: A Sweeper Caste, Its Socio-economic Portraits : with Special Reference to Jodhpur City, Shyamlal, Popular Prakashan, 1992 p. 21
  30. Themes in Indian History, Dr. Raghunath Rai, FK Publications, 2010, p. 246
  31. Scavenging, Volume 17, Bombay (India : State), Government Central Press, 1884, p. 676-679

Further reading
  • Maggie Black, Ben Fawcett. (2012). The Last Taboo: Opening the Door on the Global Sanitation Crisis. Routledge. ISBN 1136532919.
  • Bhasha Singh (2014). Unseen: The Truth about India's Manual Scavengers. Penguin India. ISBN 0143420380.
  • B. N. Srivastava (editor). (1997). Manual Scavenging in India: A Disgrace to the Country. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 8170226392.
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