Safai Karamcharis: Untouchable and unheard
Posted: December 2, 2012 Filed under: tnlabour.in | Tags: 1993, Allocation and Utilisation of Financial Resources Bill 2012, Ambedkar, Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Caste sub-plan Scheduled Tribe sub-plan Planning, Bezwada Wilson, Caste discrimination, casteism, Census 2011, Conservancy Workers, Dalits, drain cleaners, dry latrine, Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, harijans, Harsh Mander, IITM, India, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Indian Railways, insanitary latrine, lower castes, Madras Institute of Development Studies, Maila Mukti Morcha, Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, Manual Scavenging, MIDS, NAC, National Advisory Council, NSSO, Pee documentary, Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, Safai Karamchari Andolan, safai karamcharis, Sanitary Workers, sanitation, SC, SC/ST Sub Plan, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers, sewage divers, Sewage Workers, sewerage, SKA, Slavoj Zizek, Socially Relevant Projects, SRMS, ST, tnlabour, tnlabour.in, untouchables, Vidya Bhushan Rawat 1 Comment
Shyamwati has been cleaning dry latrines for 20 years. Source: Priyanka Parashar/Mint
First posted on tnlabour.in
Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Bill, 2012, is the new bill that is to be passed by the Parliament. This new bill has been the centre of much debate regarding its provisions and whether these will be effective in banning manual scavenging.
This Bill comes after the utter failure of an earlier such legislation, Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. This Act remained a ‘paper Act’, with no cases filed under it. As a result manual scavenging persists in various forms to this day, including in state-run organisations like the Indian Railways, which has an estimated 1,72,000 toilets on their trains that have to be cleaned daily along with human excreta that is discharged on the tracks.
The recommendations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Sub-Plan (as part of 12th Five Year Plan) are currently being drafted. Why has there been no debate about using the SC/ST Sub-Plan to fight the scourge of manual scavenging? Planning has the potential to ensure targeted expenditure for rehabilitation of manual scavengers.
This is significant given that the Andhra Pradesh state government intends to introduce a new statute, the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Caste sub-plan Scheduled Tribe sub-plan Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Financial Resources Bill 2012. This bill promises to ensure that funds reach the intended target group effectively and will be introduced in the winter session of the assembly, which will commence on 10 December.
To understand the full extent of the problem of manual scavenging the article will look at the lack of data, the flawed definition of manual scavenging, the potential of SC/ST Sub-Plans and technological solutions to the problem.
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