SKA focuses on strategies, technology that can eliminate manual scavenging

Swachh Bharat Abhiyan may have increased access to toilets but it has not been able to eliminate manual scavenging

Consider this: Since the Manual Scavenger Act 2013 came into effect, 937 sewer cleaners have lost their lives. As per the 2011 census, there are more than 2.6 million dry latrines in India that require cleaning by hand. Yet, the much-vaunted Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which has definitely improved people’s access to toilets — has done little to uplift the people who still manually clean them. “In all these years, we have sent rockets into space but haven’t managed to implement efficient technologies to clean sewer lines and drains without manual intervention across the country,” says Bezwada Wilson, national convener of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) — a nationwide movement that is raising a stink about manual scavenging in India. 

Manual scavenging, defined as the practice of manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of or handling human excreta in any manner from dry latrines and sewers,  is deeply linked to the caste system which confers the lowest possible status to manual scavengers. Dry latrine cleaning remains one of the most poorly paid jobs in the country, with cleaners earning between ~20 and 30 per month per house. “Not surprisingly, 98 per cent of dry toilet cleaners are women,” says Wilson. They are almost all illiterate, under-confident and suffer from a variety of skin, respiratory and digestive disorders because of the unsanitary nature of their job. Manual scavenging was banned with the passing of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993. The Manual Scavengers Act 2013 further prohibited manual scavenging in all forms. “Yet, the practice continues, dry latrines are still being made and manual cleaning of sewers has cost 11 lives that we know of, in the first two months of 2019 alone,” says Wilson. 

Photos courtesy: Safai Karamchari Andolan

SKA has been engaged in advocacy on the rights of manual scavengers for the last 35 years. Wilson and his cohorts in SKA, many of whom come from the manual scavenger community, are critical of the government’s efforts to eliminate this ghastly practice. They aver that not all new toilets constructed under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan are the twin-pit composting type which eliminate the need for manual cleaning/emptying. Second, the government must conduct a census of dry latrines across the country as well as of the people who clean them. “To eliminate manual scavenging, the government must upgrade or replace all dry latrines,” he says. Most crucially, the 2013 law barely dwells on the rehabilitation of manual scavengers. “They suffer from health issues because of the unsanitary conditions of their work, abject poverty and a noticeable lack of confidence,” he avers. Literacy rates and income levels among them are abysmally low. 

Presently, the government offers loan subsidies for manual scavengers to set up alternative businesses. Wilson believes this isn’t enough. “Manual scavengers must be skilled, educated and empowered before they can think of business plans,” he says. “Many don’t take loans for fear of not being able to pay them back.” The government must be sensitive to the fact that after having been oppressed for so many generations, manual scavengers will need intensive handholding before they can stand on their feet. “Sadly, lakhs of people who left manual scavenging haven’t received any help from the government in the last 10 years,” he says.

In the last few years, SKA has focused on improving rehabilitation strategies and advocating better technologies that would eliminate manual scavenging. Wilson, a Ramon Magsaysay award laureate, has been suggesting that the government adopt mechanised cleaning technologies and set up groups of widows of sewer cleaners and rehabilitated manual scavengers to operate them. “This way, they would gain employment in a dignified manner,” he says. On 28 February 2019, the Delhi government has announced a similar scheme. 

SKA is promoting a robotic cleaner called Sewer Croc developed by Bengaluru-based Sanitor. “This can disintegrate blockages inside sewers effectively,” he says. The equipment (including the price of a pressure tanker) costs ~35 lakh. “We’ve already set up three groups of widows and septic tank/sewer cleaners,” he says. Corporate sponsorships could enable them to buy the equipment, and the government could support these enterprises by awarding drain-cleaning contracts to them.  

The biggest challenge is to generate awareness about a deep-rooted social malaise that continues to cripple generations of manual scavengers — among people like us who like to simply flush and forget. “But we need the government’s help as well as support from society,” says Wilson. “And don’t mistake this for dole, for this is our right!” 

Learn more about SKA at www.safaikarmachariandolan.org or follow them on Facebook and Twitter. 

Visit www.sanitor.in for more information on Sewer Croc