As the practice of manual scavenging continues to prevail, TNM examined five municipalities in the five southern states, which reported high instances of manual scavenging. Besides investigating the reasons for this prevalence, TNM also critically looked into the role of district administrations and what measures they have implemented.
A blue-coloured statue of Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of Indian Constitution, in Relli veedhi (Relli street) is the prominent marker of the Dalit colony in Sakethapuram. The area, situated near the Naval Armament Depot in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, houses mostly Rellis— a Scheduled Caste community.
In the eastern part of the state, it is mostly the Rellis who are forced into manual scavenging. Though the practice is banned under the Prohibition of Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 1993, the illegal work continues to take place openly under the nose of the district administration.
Sakethapuram has 200 Relli families, and at least 20 of them continue to do manual scavenging. Among them is 48-year-old M Murthy, who has been cleaning septic tanks for at least 20 years. According to Gita Ramaswamy, who wrote ‘India Stinking’ after extensively working with former manual scavengers, Rellis had migrated from Orissa.
Dalits were reluctant to take up scavenging jobs in the areas which they belonged to, for it involved shame and an affront to indignity. So, Rellis from Orissa, a state bordering Visakhapatnam, migrated to north coastal Andhra, East Godavari and West Godavari districts, Ramaswamy writes in her book.
Though the practice is widely prevalent in Visakhapatnam, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) has identified only 64 persons as manual scavengers, data procured under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by TNM revealed. Out of the 64 persons identified as manual scavengers, 18 belong to the Relli community. The others are from Madiga, Mala, Yadava, Settibalija, Telaga and other communities.
However, among the 64 persons only 32 have been rehabilitated, the District SC Service Cooperative Society (DSCSCS) said. They have been provided Rs 40,000 each by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. They have also been provided with “livelihood schemes such as tippers, vacuum loaders, sanitary equipment, sophisticated tools etc,” the DSCSCS said in their response.
Essentially, they have been provided with the same kind of cleaning jobs. “Retaining manual scavengers in cleaning jobs has been the official policy of the Union government. Nobody in the government thinks of providing them alternate careers, which does not involve cleaning filth,” alleges C Pennobilesu, Andhra Pradesh State Organiser for Safai Karamchari Andolan (SKA).
Manual scavenging has been prohibited since 1993, and it was made a punishable offence under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. To eliminate the practice, the GVMC conducted door-to-door surveys and identified and demolished 1,772 toilets which lacked proper sanitation. They also constructed 339 community toilets, the GVMC in its RTI response said. The GVMC however refused to share the information regarding investments made in procuring machinery to eradicate manual scavenging within the corporation by stating that the Underground Drainage department and the Engineering section will have the relevant information.
M Murthy, who has been cleaning septic tanks for at least 20 years
Pennobilesu feels the BJP-led governments are holding on to the varnashrama concept – caste-based occupation as defined in the Hindu system of four varnas – through its policies. On October 2, 2014, marking the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat mission, a campaign to promote cleanliness and eradicate open-defecation in the country.
Gandhi while condemning the practice of untouchability is said to have upheld varnashrama dharma. In his essay Most Honourable Occupation written in 1934, supporting manual scavenging, Gandhi wrote: “I call scavenging as one of the most honourable occupations to which mankind is called. I don’t consider it an unclean occupation by any means. That you have to handle dirt is true. But that every mother is doing and has to do. But nobody says a mother’s occupation is unclean.”
Following the ideals of Gandhi, Modi too had equated the scavenging work carried out by the Bhangis (a Dalit community) as an “experience in spirituality.”
As per the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, persons identified as manual scavengers should be provided with a one-time cash assistance of Rs 40,000 and back-end capital subsidy up to Rs 3.25 lakh. Their dependents are also eligible for self-employment projects up to Rs 10 lakh (Rs 15 lakh in case of sanitation projects) and skill development training up to two years with a monthly stipend of Rs 3,000.
According to the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation, there have been four manual scavenging deaths in its jurisdiction since 2013. While three persons – P Appala Naidu, P Eswara Rao, K Nooka Raju – had died in 2013, D Appalakonda died in 2016 while engaged in manual scavenging at Siripuram junction. All of them were employed by the GVMC and died while cleaning manholes. The deceased were forced to clean the manholes without any safety equipment, according to Safai Karamchari Andolan.
As compensation, the GVMC paid Rs 6 lakh each to the families of Appala Naidu, Eswara Rao and Nooka Raju, along with a house and a job in the public health wing for each family. Appalakonda's family received Rs 8 lakh as monetary compensation. They were also provided with a house and a job, as per information availed through RTI.
The death rate is less despite the wide prevalence of manual scavenging in Visakhapatnam city. People who continue to do manual scavenging say that they get informed about the cleaning work by ‘contractors’ —middle men who are in touch with the people involved in scavenging. “We get a call from the contractor, informing us about cleaning work and we go at night by hiring a minivan and drums. The work usually begins at 8pm. After carefully ensuring that the toxic gases have dissipated, we enter the tank with buckets and remove the waste manually,” says Murthy. He says that the payment is decided based on the volume of filth. “The normal charge is Rs 10,000, and depending on the quantity we charge more,” he adds.
Though Murthy has been doing scavenging work for decades, he has not been identified as a manual scavenger by the district administration and provided rehabilitation. In Sakethapuram, at least three persons continue to do scavenging as a full-time job, while others continue to moonlight as scavengers for additional income. Residents of Sakethapuram are mostly Rellis and almost everyone works in the corporation, doing sanitation work such as sweeping and cleaning. Sanitation work is largely outsourced by the Corporation, and these persons working on contract basis, due to inadequate income, go for scavenging work.
The GVMC has 4,716 sanitation workers, out of which only 696 are permanent staff. The rest are hired on contract basis. These outsourced sanitation workers get salaries of less than Rs 14,000 and that too, irregularly, they allege. “When there is a financial crisis we go for scavenging work. What other option do we have?” says, 34-year-old *Ramesh (name changed), a resident of Sakethapuram from the Relli community. Ramesh has been working with the GVMC as a sweeper for the past 10 years. He candidly confesses that he does scavenging work at least twice a month.
According to the community leaders, the Rellis live in a ghetto and often take up scavenging work without any hesitation. Take the case of 38-year-old Somu Shekar, a BSc graduate. Two years ago, Shekar, who speaks impeccable English, was working as a loan recovery agent. However, the Covid pandemic resulted in him losing his job. To sustain his family, since then Shekar took up scavenging work.
“People have unfortunately internalised discrimination. They have become immune to the inhumanity of this work. They no longer consider it an inhuman thing to do,” observes 23-year-old B Praveen Kumar, neighbour of Shekar, who also belongs to the Relli community. Praveen has been working to eliminate the practice of manual scavenging and recently became a member of Safai Karamchari Andolan.
Somu Shekar, a former loan recovery agent now engages in manual scavenging
Somadula Rajesh, a community leader says easy money is an attraction for some Rellis. “Keeping the risk aside, they consider scavenging an easy job. It is mostly a 4-5 hour job and they get paid handsomely,” he says. The nature of scavenging work has also turned many into alcoholics which further prevents them from doing other jobs, he points out. “Why go for a full-time job when you can make money within a few hours in one day. That is the attitude of the people,” Rajesh says.
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This research was supported by a grant from the Thakur Family Foundation. The Foundation has not exercised any editorial control over the contents of this report.