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Indian Legion presents to you Voice of The Wild, an...
A caste based practice which even in 2020 has its roots too deep to eradicate from our system.
According to Google, manual scavenging is "The removal of human excrement from public streets and dry latrines, cleaning septic tanks, gutters, and sewers." This work is often done with tools like tinplate, brooms, bucket, shovels, etc.
Men and women with their hands clean these places and take these filth meters and even kilometers away for the dumping.
The cause for their dying is 78% Nitrogen and garbage inside produces methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide gas and ammonia which reduces oxygen levels cause hypoxia and may often cause asphyxiation.
Filth, broken bottles lurking in darkness mark their bodies with scars and cuts, dead animals like rats, cats, dogs are the part of social atrocities that these workers face without any protective wear they enter these holes. It is an extremely important to be freed from the caste evils and patriarchy for the nation building.
To cope with this most of these people drink alcohol nightly to overcome the stench and filth which they have to deal with daily and those who die cleaning sewers, gutters and septic tanks this legacy after their death is carried by their children for whom they were earning earlier now has to do the same work for the sake to get that bare wage for the survival.
In recent response in Lok Sabha union minister Ramdas Athwale stated that 110 people died cleaning sewers last-year alone, the highest since 2015. A total 631 people have died within the past decade due to manual scavenging.
And these are government numbers there are many more who are working under private contractor whose work is considered illegal by the government .
The government in September 2013 have passed the new legislation to protect their rights under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 prohibits construction or maintenance of insanitary latrines, and employment of any person for manual scavenging or hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks.
In December 2013 Government has also formulated Rules-2013 called as "The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Rules 2013" or M.S. Rules 2013.
Even though government has banned this in 2014 it is still being practiced in many states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar pradesh, and Rajasthan.
Privilege
A special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available to a selected person or group. Who decide this? How would you react if someone asks you to clean human excreta flowing through the drains? Does it violate our privilege and right? It does. It surely does then what about these people? What about their rights.
Privilege is nothing but an overly used word by the beneficiaries of the luxury, a simple violation of the rights of those who can't represent themselves.
But we can represent them, we can give them that platform, amplify their voices, we can be their voices.
A simple solution as to Mechanisation is not going to eradicate this evil. A holistic approach towards this is need of the time.
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Loveandhugs ⚫⚜️⚫⚜️⚫⚜️⚫⚜️⚫⚜️⚫ November 19,2020(Thursday)
