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ELEVEN
Working conditions, health and well-being among the scavenger community
Vimal Kumar
Introduction
India has the second largest scavenging population in the world after China. Although the exact number of manual scavengers remains disputed, the 2011 census showed that between 800,000 to 1,000,000 people are engaged in manual scavenging in India (The New Indian Express, 2013). Scavenger communities are known by the different names in the India: Bhangi, Hadi, Thotti, Mehter, Dhanuk, Valmiki, Chuhra1 and Balmiki (Haryana). Whatever they are called, they are placed in the lowest rung of the Hindu caste hierarchy (Freed, 1970) and are trapped into performing 'unclean' occupations through the generations. The overarching conceptual identification of these occupations intersecting with communities is explored here through a focus on manual scavengers. Manual scavenging refers to the removal of human waste/excreta using brooms, tin plates and baskets from the dry latrine for disposal and the people engaged doing it are referred to as manual scavengers. Contemporary debates around the exact name of these communities is disputed and remains contested. This chapter uses the neutral English term 'scavenger'. This may to refer to 'Chuhra' 'Balmiki' 'Bhangi' 'Mehtar' 'Hadi' 'Dom' and so on. The Government of India also uses the term 'Safai Karamchari' in Hindi language which in English translates as manual scavenger. As a continuation of this a National Commission for Safai Karamcharis was formed by the government to look into issues of the scavenger community.2
In Indian caste-based society, identity, social status and respect of communities/people are directly related to the occupation they are ascribed to perform. Work and occupation such as manual scavenging is given the lowest status in the society. India is also known as 'Hindustan' and this is the most common word in Indian society. The meaning of 'Hindustan' is the country of Hindus. Therefore, large populations of India are influenced by the Hindu religion and beliefs, following the Hindu code and ideas which have been set out by the controversial Hindu law giver Manu and is commonly known as 'Manusmriti'. These ideas, as described by Blunt (1981), hold that a particular caste group will be engaged in a particular type of work or profession based on their birth and descent. This theory is still widely accepted by a very large orthodox section of Hindu society.
Caste and occupation of the scavenger community
The low status and lack of respect accorded to the manual scavenging community is directly related to their occupation which is identified as disgraceful work. This has led to the perception and practice of 'untouchability' against the community. As already argued, the scavengers are traditionally confined to the least desirable forms of work such as the removal of human excreta and dead animals, leather work, working as messengers to deliver news of deaths and butcher work. Ghurye (1961) has shown that those who belong to the scavenger community are required to clean night soil and have been performing this occupation throughout history in India. Within the caste hierarchy, it is well documented by Hutton (1946) that the scavenger caste is positioned at the lowest grade in the Hindu social structure. This is the case despite government policies that outlaw such discrimination. According to The Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 (Act No. 22 of 1955) 7(A): 'unlawful compulsory labour, when to be deemed to be a practice of "untouchability".3 Whoever compels any person, on the ground of "untouchability", to do any scavenging or sweeping or to remove any carcass, or to flay any animal, or to remove the umbilical cord or to do any other job of a similar nature shall be deemed to have enforced a disability arising out of "untouchability".'4
Caste position is not limited to lower castes, but is deeply rooted in Indian sociocultural hierarchy. Within the lower castes (now identified as scheduled caste by the Indian Government) community, sub-castes and hierarchies are even more pronounced and significant. Dumont (1980) points out that of the total 25 untouchable castes, there are 12 castes which will not touch the scavenger caste. For instance, the sub-caste known as 'Balmikis' is considered the lowest among scheduled castes, while 'Jatavs' are higher in status. The former are engaged in manual scavenging jobs, while the latter are engaged in leather crafts, indicating that status within the caste. These practices among communities are closely linked to Brahmanical notions of purity and pollution which run across all caste groups. Therefore, even though the Indian Constitution bans the practice of untouchability and has identified the scavenger community as scheduled caste, they face discrimination from other upper castes and even within those who are also identified as scheduled castes.
Occupations performed by the scavenger community are highly stressful and unhygienic and due to the stigma of being lower caste, further stress is added to an already hash and disagreeable situation. Having been treated as the most polluted and socially disgraced group within the Hindu society, as well as among Dalits (scheduled caste), scavengers are struggling to change their plight in the fight for their rights within the existing system.
Interestingly even today, after the 70th year of India's independence, most of the people belong to the sweepers community, working in the Municipal Corporation,5 Nagar Nigam6 and Gram Panchayat level belong to the scavenger community. They work as manual scavengers sweeping roads and streets, cleaning sewage and sanitation and dumping dead animals from the residential areas.
'Castes other than Balmiki (Scavenger) are not willing to take up this polluting work. In the case of sweepers, the caste and its occupational association have not broken down. In Balmiki (Scavenger) community, many youths after working as semi-skilled labour, have taken up sweeping, a highly stigmatized job.' (Aggarwal and Ashraf, 1976)
As they belong to this particular caste, society and the state have allocated them to the scavenging occupation while other communities are prevented from doing this work. In direct and indirect ways such occupations are imposed on this particular caste. Therefore, there are fewer chances to move away from these inhuman occupations and their concomitant stigma.
Many members of the scavenger communities have been observed to be converting or are being converted to other religions with a hope that they would receive an improved social status as well as a more dignified life. The main religions that they have converted to in order to escape untouchability and discrimination are Sikhism, Christianity, Arya Samaj and Islam. On this count, M.N. Srinivas, a sociologist, noted that 'conversion to Christianity only changed the faith but not the customs, the general culture, or the standing of the converts in society' (Srinivas, 1995). In the states of Haryana and Punjab in India, some people of the Chuhra (scavenger) community converted to Sikhism and are known as 'Mazhbi' or 'Rangreta' in the Sikh religion. The status of Rangreta (scavengers) still remains the lowest in the Sikh religion and they are still engaged in scavenging work, facing daily discrimination and untouchability. In the book 'Punjab caste' Ibbetson and Denzil (1974) argued that 'the Ramdasi is still a "Chamar" and the Rangreta still a "Chuhra". The change has been recent and is still in progress'. After converting to different religions, the manual scavengers remain excluded, living as a community outside the confines of the city, performing unclean jobs with their old brooms. So it could be argued that religious conversion among the scavenger community has not really altered their social status. On the contrary, religious conversions have broken their community unity and fragmented them as a group.
In Indian society, it is very complicated to split caste hierarchy as power structures are formulated on caste lines and there are vested interests that benefit from its persistent perpetuation. M.K. Gandhi was a freedom fighter during the British rule in India and is commonly known as 'Bapu Gandhi' and sometimes 'The Father of the Nation'. Dominant castes among Indian society revere Gandhi. However, on the issue of scavengers, while trying to reverse the caste hierarchy Gandhi ended up describing and eulogising 'The Ideal Bhangi' in the Harijan on 28 November 1936. His message romanticised the issue of manual scavenging, writing in 1936 that 'a Bhangi (scavenger) does for society what a mother does for her baby. A mother washes her baby of the dirt and ensures his health. Even so the Bhangi protects and safeguards the health of the entire community by maintaining sanitation for it' (Gandhi, 1936). Still, after nearly 70 years of independence the Prime Minister Mr Narender Modi, then the minister of the state of Gujarat, repeated Gandhi's argument and tried to romanticise the issue of manual scavenging. In his book Karmayog Modi (2007) wrote: 'Scavenging is a 'Spiritual Experience' (IBNLive, 2013). These two statements from two political leaders of India confirms the prevalence of a casteist mindset in society which perpetuates a romantic notion of the scavenger community. Unfortunately, most of Indian society accepts these ideas, put forward as they are by such esteemed political leaders. With political forces working against scavengers the processes of discrimination and exclusion are further reinforced and policy makers give little attention to the issues among the scavenger community.
While scavenging is considered an indispensable occupation, scavengers are neglected by the government, solid waste management experts, international development agencies and even by many of the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that operate in India (Medina, 2007). They remain as deprived as ever and face political discrimination at every step. A report by N.R. Malkani, (1994) published by the Planning Commission of India, highlighted the plight and extreme working conditions of scavengers in India. The report observed that 'such atmosphere charged with filth and squalor cannot but have depressive effects not only on the human dignity and personality of these workers but also on their mental make-up and their whole attitude of life. The nature of their work has made them most despised section of the working class'.
The Indian government formed national commissions called the 'National Commission for Safai Karamcharis' and the 'National Safai Karamcharis Finance & Development Corporation'.7 These two organisations are national-level government bodies meant for the welfare and rehabilitation of scavengers and their dependants. Mostly, executive members of the commissions are recommended by the ruling political party in the central government. Thus they are under various political and local pressures which can limit their effectiveness. The recommendations made by these commissions are neither taken up nor implemented by the concerned parties; some reports8 have revealed the dependency and helplessness of these commissions. In short, the commissions have not been able to play the important and powerful role envisaged for them. The national commissions which have been set up to safeguard the rights of the marginalised in our society have failed in performing their responsibilities. More recently in 2014 the government launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign). In so doing Prime Minister Modi stated that; 'A clean India would be the best tribute India could pay to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th anniversary of his birth in 2019' (2014). The Government of India has invested significant funds in this campaign and the media regularly carry inspirational pictures of political leaders holding brooms to signify their support. The campaign has attracted significant support from the public with many posting pictures on social media using #MyCleanIndia. The programme itself boasts some significant successes, notably in reducing open defecation through a programme of toilet building in some areas of the country. However, while this appears at first sight to be a positive development concerns have been raised. Firstly, there are many signs that despite a promising start the campaign has failed to meet many of its targets. As Shalini Nair (2015), writing for the Indian Express, notes:
'Only 20–25% of the target in terms of toilet construction has been achieved while on the garbage management front, the results are even more abysmal. Rankings released earlier show several major cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Patna, Lucknow, Jaipur among others fare poorly on the cleanliness scale.'
Secondly it is possible that this increased public awareness of issues around public hygiene might add another burden on sweepers. Representatives from the community have been overlooked as central partners in the development. Yet members of the public are now looking to them to increase their workload to meet the centrally planned targets. Without additional funding and support this would likely increase the stress on the already overworked scavengers and potentially lead to more work-related accidents and health problems. While it is too soon to be able to properly evaluate the impact of this campaign, it will be important to monitor developments.
The hazardous work environment of scavengers is stated to be dangerous for health and to greatly enhance the chance of death. Due to the practice of this unclean work, there is a high prevalence of alcohol consumption and smoking among scavengers as a coping mechanism to avoid the smell. The principal reason for this high level of addiction is the filth and unpleasant nature of work and most of those who use alcohol and tobacco only began to do so after they started working. According to a report byTehelka magazine 'at least 22,327 workers from the scavenger community die every year' (Anand, 2007). This translates to more than 61 scavenger deaths every day. However, the story of discrimination does not end with the death of scavengers. After the death of a scavenger, their family has to fight with the system to get compensation and justice (The Hindi, 2014).
The degree and frequency of discrimination against the scavenging community clearly identifies them as the most discriminated group in Indian society. In this context it is imperative that every aspect related to the scavenger community is understood. Yet there are hardly any studies on the issues of the scavenger community. With these realities in mind, it is essential to explore in more depth the current working conditions of the most excluded group and to know how they are living with this unclean occupation in modern India.
This study of the realities of the scavenger community has been conducted to explore the problem of the work environment, stress and health of scavengers due to scavenging work and presents r...
