Dr. Shailesh Darokar, Prashant Rupavathe
Transactions and services related to blood, flesh, excrement, skin, bones, man-made sewage are hated, hated, defiled, and so on. But with the advent of science and technology, the industrial revolution, modern human values, prestige, human rights, etc., these perceptions have changed drastically over time. However, due to our religion based orthodox culture and system, we still adhere to these orthodox beliefs.
It not only damages our social, cultural and many other organs but also leaves us far behind. For example, due to the hypocrisy of religious purity mentioned above, accumulated experiments like Ayurveda have been left to be experienced. As a result, he was unable to make significant efforts in surgery or immunology.
From a social perspective, a large group has been keeping ‘social restraint’ out of the mainstream for thousands of years. 100 per cent caste was reserved in this regard even during the period when caste was born and business or livelihood based on it and human rights were declared. As a result, inhumane life was imposed on them. Society has been neglected even in the 21st century age of digital technology due to the racist business system that has no human dignity. This is very dangerous from the point of view of the Nicop social system. With this in mind, this may be the first time the department has made allocations in the state budget for automation.
This problem affects sanitation workers, non-cleaners, garbage collectors and dumping grounds. To some extent. This is because in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation alone, 2,614 cleaners died while working on gutters, drains, manholes, etc. from 2004 to 2013. That’s 261 a year, usually one worker and half a day! Of course, if they are victims of this, it should not be taken seriously by this system or culture at all. Because in our intolerant orthodox culture and system, modern society and the social sciences say that not only the concept of labor value or human dignity, but also the workers in this system are the victims, not just the workers but the society as a whole. Services are not capable. That’s why we have to take care of all this.
What is the current situation of real health workers, not cleaners, in Mumbai, the richest metropolis in Asia?
The Mumbai Municipal Corporation has not hired cleaning workers since 2004. Currently the number of cleaning workers in Mumbai Municipal Corporation is 39 thousand 729. There are 28,800 permanent workers. The rest are contract workers. In 2004, Mumbai collected 7,800 metric tonnes of waste, which increased to 9,400 metric tonnes in 2017.
Padma Shri Sudharak Olve, a photojournalist, launched the ‘In Search of Dignity and Justice – The Untold Story of Conservancy Workers’ project in 1994 under the ‘Garima Abhiyan’ to treat inhumane and degrading treatment of cleaners. It depicted the daily life of these cleaners. Later in 2014, these photographs were collected by Garima Abhiyan, Mumbai Municipal Corporation and Tata Trust. The rationale behind this is to improve the unsafe working practices of cleaners and make the work at least humane and dignified, but by 2022 it has not changed much.
Not only sound education but his alertness and dedication too are most required. Even in this technological age, they still belong to the Middle Ages. To this day gutter cleaners use bamboo, iron rods, shovels and shovels as tools. Road sweepers use a hammer to sweep the road, two wooden planks to remove debris and a two-wheeler to remove debris.
Workers who descend into huge canals are called divers. Nine workers in the Mumbai Municipal Corporation are doing such work. They have to wear some kind of clothes (suits) when they go down to the door. These workers are nine and for them this reduction is the only one. We talk about the Mars mission, the Five G, the bullet train, the three trillion economy. But can’t the sewers be given the modern weapons and clothing they need for the job? Take a look at how this deficit is in the context of the talk of becoming a super power. The method of dumping rubbish in houses that have accumulated in the old city of Mumbai, their method of cleaning, and the method of unloading cleaners in manholes have not changed for decades.
Workers who clean public toilets and bathrooms are called halal. Because so this section is 100% reserved for Dalits!
Although the department has made financial allocations for automation in this year’s state budget, it is only a band-aid. This is because more than 40% of Mumbai’s population lives in slums and most of the population lives in slums. Vehicles with suction pumps and other related equipment can go nowhere. This requires cleaning workers to go inside and work in areas such as ditches, drains, manholes, etc. Therefore mechanization must be done in such a way as to provide an alternative to the labor of these workers. Chennai, Bangalore Municipal Corporation has started using ‘Robo’ (also known as Bandikoot) for this purpose. Only if it is automated in this way or in this form can it preserve human dignity and self-respect.
Although Mumbai is the financial capital of the country, there is a huge pressure on its infrastructure from the very beginning. It is still growing due to the tall buildings and towers currently under construction. Campaigns like ‘Swachha Bharat Mission’ have also increased the pressure on cleaners. While the event was good for taking photos of politicians and celebrities .. a cleaner‌ caused the death. Because he is not only the main foot soldier but also the main cell for this campaign. However, they were taken into account in this campaign. When they start, they need to be provided with the minimum infrastructure and tools. And most importantly, increasing their number is mandatory. But unfortunately, what is the identity of the cleaner in your financial capital? So, sewer, crap! It changed the color of the khaki uniform in the past and gave the form of ‘social quarantine’ to the ‘isolation’ with something written on the back. Therefore, while on duty, their social activities are limited. E.g. In that uniform, they have an unannounced ban on traveling on public transport.
The main items on the agenda are the house of the guards (their colony is synonymous with the ‘widow’s colony’. Working in the most inhumane, unhealthy and dangerous conditions, they are constantly suffering from various ailments and diseases. Sweepers suffer from vitiligo, respiratory infections, asthma, tuberculosis as well as back pain, knee pain, paralysis, high blood pressure and are more likely to be infected with malaria and dengue than the average person. Workers were surveyed. At that time 31.1% of workers fell ill due to various reasons.
Chowki is a place where cleaners attend, store tools, change clothes and eat. They are of two types. One section is the outpost and the other is the motor loader outpost. Most of these outposts do not even have the minimum facilities. Most of these checkposts are in old rusty shipping containers. There are not enough benches to sit on. There is no guarantee that they will have access to bath water after returning from working in the manhole. Pure drinking water is not guaranteed. There are over 250 outposts in Mumbai. At least build them and provide the minimum facilities.
The state has made provision for automation of the cleaning department in this year’s budget. The finance minister used the term self-respect of sanitation workers in his speech. Instead of actually thinking about their self-esteem we should think about the inhumane tendency, the traditional cultural attitude in our society. That is why we as a society must feel guilty. But this system, culture does not give us such freedom.
So what are your perceptions and policies in this regard?
While in South India on February 3, 1934, Mahatma Gandhi said in his speech that the work of cleaners was a respectable profession with a humanitarian perspective. I do not consider this business dirty from any angle. It is a must to clean the dirt in the society by hand while the cleaners are cleaning. But this is what every mother, every doctor does. But no mother would say that it is a dirty business when she cleans her baby or when the doctor cleans her patient.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar said that caste and business, especially the business of cleaners, go hand in hand with each other. There will be no eradication of human waste unless we eradicate caste and there will be no change in the attitude of the society towards Dalits.
So the question now is, on what basis should we decide our perceptions and policies? However, for those whose minimum human senses are intact, this question should not be as complicated as rocket science!

Both authors are Associate Professors and Social Studies practitioners at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
shaileshsd@tiss.edu, prashantrupawate@gmail.com

2022-05-14 18:34:00