Manual scavenging - a life of dignity?

Joshi, Deepa; Ferron, Suzanne

doi:10.3362/0262-8104.2007.054

Cited by 3 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…9 10 Although they also face stigmatisation and prejudice, rehabilitation and occupation mobility are comparatively easier to access for male scavengers as they have fewer ‘household responsibilities’ or ‘demands of childcare’. 1 In addition, men often perform the more skilled work of waste removal involving machinery and transport. 1 Working without personal protective equipment (PPE) and legal protection, Karamcharis describe various afflictions resulting from chronic exposure to pathogens and the toxic, carcinogenic and teratogenic pollutants commonly found in sewage.…”

Section: The Occupational and Community Health Risks Of Scavengingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 1 In addition, men often perform the more skilled work of waste removal involving machinery and transport. 1 Working without personal protective equipment (PPE) and legal protection, Karamcharis describe various afflictions resulting from chronic exposure to pathogens and the toxic, carcinogenic and teratogenic pollutants commonly found in sewage. Problems include aggressive itchy patches, rashes, boils and other skin infections.…”

Section: The Occupational and Community Health Risks Of Scavengingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This concept of service includes aspects of social and spatial segregation such as expectations for Karamcharis to mark themselves, announce their presence and physically exclude themselves from areas designated for ‘purer’ members of society to avoid ‘polluting’ vital elements such as air or water. 1 21 Prior to the use of the term ‘Safai Karamcharis’, manual scavengers were identified by their caste title, such as ‘Methar’, ‘Bhangi’, ‘Balmiki’ or ‘Dalit’. Many of these terms, such as Dalit, which means ‘broken identity’ or ‘broken people’, were used as a derogatory epithet, although anticaste advocates have recently begun to reclaim them.…”

Section: A Sociocultural History Of Scavengingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…11 55 By contrast, prominent campaigners like Bezwada Wilson maintain that legalisation would be returning to the paternalistic approach of formalising discriminatory caste-based labour and that manual scavenging needs to be eradicated in its entirety. 1 …”

Section: A State Of Limbomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Across Indian cultures and communities, sanitation work has been the responsibility of the lowest castes. 1 The Hindi term ‘Safai Karamcharis/Karmacharis’ (cleaning worker or staff) is commonly used to refer to sanitation workers and sweepers. The term ‘Karamchari’ is also used in current legal lexica when referring to manual scavengers, 2 who engage in manually cleaning, carrying, handling or disposing of human excreta in specifically insanitary conditions, such as open drains, pits or railway tracks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Between paternalism and illegality: a longitudinal analysis of the role and condition of manual scavengers in India

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Manual scavengers, or ‘Safai Karamcharis’, as they are known in India, are sanitation workers who manually clean human waste for a living and face considerable occupational health risks. They are subject to deep-seated, caste-based stigma associated with their perceived ‘caste impurity’ and lack of cleanliness, which result both in consistently dangerous substandard working conditions and lack of social mobility, with women facing greater hardships. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated their plight. Despite the considerable efforts of social advocates, organised movements and government institutions, reforms and criminalisation have produced mixed results and campaigners remain divided on whether banning manual scavenging is an effective solution. This article reviews the history of attempts to address scavenging in India. Starting in the colonial period and ending with the current government’s Swachh Bharat Mission, it highlights how attempts to deal with scavenging via quick-fix solutions like legal bans criminalising their employment, infrastructure upgrades or paternalistic interventions have either failed to resolve issues or exacerbated scavengers’ situation by pushing long-standing problems out of view. It argues that meaningful progress depends on abandoning top-down modes of decision-making, addressing the underlying sociocultural and infrastructural factors that perpetuate the ill health and social conditions of manual scavengers, collecting data on the true extent of scavenging, and investing in and providing political agency to communities themselves.

show abstract

Section: The Occupational and Community Health Risks Of Scavengingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Occupational and Community Health Risks Of Scavengingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Sociocultural History Of Scavengingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A State Of Limbomentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Between paternalism and illegality: a longitudinal analysis of the role and condition of manual scavengers in India

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

From Shadows to Spotlight: Unveiling the Saga of Manual Scavenging in India

Raj,

Tiwari,

Singh Isser

2024

rupkatha

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With the announcement of “The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993,” the practice of manual scavenging became illegal in India. The manual scavenging problem as a practice is prolonged because of the lack of technological progress and political and administrative will to implement reformative laws on the ground. The Indological text has a particular interpretation of manual scavenging, constituting the basis of caste ideologies and practices. Using qualitative data, the present study encapsulates the transformation of manual scavenging from an overlooked issue to one that demands attention and understanding. It sets the tone for a comprehensive exploration of the historical, social, and policy dimensions surrounding manual scavenging in India. The paper argues that most of the legislative and executive decisions have landed on the terrain of totemism, purity & pollution and are heavily ritualised in the ideological framework, contributing least to the practice.

show abstract

The Human Dignity Argument against Manual Scavenging in India

Wankhede

Kahle

2023

J-CASTE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, we argue that manual scavenging and the 2013 Act which prohibits it are unconstitutional as they violate human dignity, the prohibition against untouchability, and the right to life enshrined in the Constitution of India. We bring out contradictions and limitations in the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on manual scavenging and show that it misses out on deploying its own strong anti-untouchability and human dignity-based jurisprudence in the judicial treatment of manual scavenging. This progressive jurisprudence outlaws all forms of social exclusion and does not allow for any exceptions to the right to human dignity. We then propose a framework which outlines the unconstitutionality of the very practice of manual scavenging through an in-depth and conjoint analysis of the Indian constitutional jurisprudence on prohibition untouchability, right to human dignity and right to life. A conjoint reading of the three principles brings out the real potential of the Indian Constitution in safeguarding the rights of manual scavengers, a feat which must begin with a complete abolition of all forms of scavenging work without exception. Arguing against the acceptability of allegedly “safe” sanitation work, we propose an alternative framework to understand and critique manual scavenging, without which a complete eradication of manual scavenging is impossible.

show abstract

Manual scavenging - a life of dignity?

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Between paternalism and illegality: a longitudinal analysis of the role and condition of manual scavengers in India

Between paternalism and illegality: a longitudinal analysis of the role and condition of manual scavengers in India

From Shadows to Spotlight: Unveiling the Saga of Manual Scavenging in India

The Human Dignity Argument against Manual Scavenging in India

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About