Not just open defecation, Swachh Bharat should also end India's caste mess

In addition to mechanising sanitation systems, Swachh Bharat should strictly enforce the anti-manual scavenging law, including against government officials who engage in caste discrimination

“We don’t get any other job no matter where we go. I have tried. I know this is discrimination, but what can I do?” In June 2014, when I met 18-year-old Bablu, he was working through a contractor for the government, cleaning garbage and excrement from drains in Bharatpur city in Rajasthan state.

Bablu is a Dalit. His parents were cleaners. After he completed eighth grade, more schooling than his parents had, he said he looked for a job that could lift him out of the status accorded at birth by the caste structure. He wanted something that better matched his