Manual scavengers, victims of caste pyramid

BOTTOM LINE: It's a practice that deprives thousands of their fundamental right to live with dignity.

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Article 15 of the Constitution of India talks of every citizen's fundamental right to equality. It says, "No person shall be discriminated on the basis of caste, colour, language etc. Every person shall have equal access to public places."

But manual scavengers in every part of the country are still outcasts.

In Kishangarh in Chhattarpur district, even the village barber refuses to oblige Valmikis because they just cannot be touched. Valmikis travel to the nearest town - 15 to 20 kilometers away - to get a simple haircut.

Santosh Kumar Singh who is a barber says, “Valmikis stay within their limits and don't come to us.”

The village hand pump is also out of bounds. Mehtars or Valmikis are not allowed to draw water or enter the house of God. Hotels and teashops keep separate utensils for the untouchables.

Ladkunwar is still caught in the grind. She gave up scavenging two years ago but the she is yet to be freed of the taint.

Ladkunwar says, “They don't give us drinking water, cut our hair or iron our clothes. They don't even allow us to stand in their compound.”

Even today the caste lines are clearly drawn here in Alipur. The Valmiki community is not allowed to go beyond this point at the village well. If they need water, someone from the upper caste has to give it to them from a distance. Ironically if somebody falls into this well, it is the Valmiki community that is expected to rescue them.

It is not easy to wash away a history of inequality. The upper caste Brahmin condemns Valmikis as-the untouchable.

Bhagwati Prasad Kankar a Brahmin farmer, says, “We Brahmins have been conducting religious ceremonies for years. Our conscience doesn't allow us to commit this wrong act of eating with a Valmiki.”

While the caste discrimination clogs - the non-existent infrastructure breeds more scavenging.

In 2003, the Madhya Pradesh Government promised to connect all dry toilets to a drainage system. But in Gohad there's no sign of any drainage, dry toilets are still in use and the Mehtar or Valmiki community are expected to keep them clean.

Scavengers don't just live in the back of beyond. Nand Nagri in Delhi is home to many scavenger families.

Sudha has spent a lifetime picking human waste. Even after 20 years she hasn't forgotten the stench of her first encounter.

The foul smell crept into her system and Sudha has developed respiratory problems.

Asthma, tuberculosis and jaundice - most scavengers succumb to diseases and many simply seek refuge in alcohol.

Safai Karamchari Andolan convenor Bezwada Wilson says, “They cannot tolerate the smell, and they cannot see the human excreta every day. To escape all these things, they will take some liquor some cheap liquor and they will just sleep. And next day morning again they will go on and start cleaning.”

Like Sudha, Sharda has been cleaning dry toilets and sewers in Nand Nagri for over 25 years. Her fate is sealed but hopes her children will escape the drudgery of drains

Sharda says, “I want my children to do well. I don't want them to ruin their lives like me. I want them to go to office.”

Not one of these manual scavengers across Madhya Pradesh and Delhi want to do what they do. But the lack of opportunity and caste discrimination has condemned them to this degrading practice.