Manual scavengers of a small town in Gujarat, Dudhrej of
Surendranagar district, are on warpath. Following the refusal of the state
government authorities to heed to their demand to regularize them, the
scavengers – who mostly work as contractors workers under the local municipality
– took out their maiden rally in Surendranagar to protest against the “discriminatory
attitude” of the authorities. They allege, instead of rehabilitating them in
respectable jobs, they are forced to manually clean up human excreta, or else quit
the job.
The representation said, apart from rehabilitating them from
manual scavenging, one of their major demands was that the contractor, who employs
them under the banner of Navalgadh Majur Sahkari Mandali, should hand pay them
in accordance with the minimum wages applicable for the work they were made to
do. The representation said, the minimum wages payable to them is Rs 230.40 per
day, which they are not being paid.
“Instead of complying by minimum wages law, the contractor
has refused to deposit with authorities the
employees’ provident fund (EPF) amount deducted from wages. We have been
demanding to hand over EPF slips suggesting how much of EPF has been deposited,
but the contractor refused to give any details”, said Baldevbhai Rathod, who
signed the representation on behalf of the manual scavengers. He adds, “This is
happening despite the fact they have been working without break under the
municipality’s fire station.”
“The chief officer, during a Lok Darbar with us, agreed to
ensure that minimum wages are paid to us, and also that our EPF amount would be
deposited and we would get the receipts. Instead, however, he has sought to
sack manual scavengers who were in the forefront of the demand, suspecting that
they were behind information being given to the media”, Rathod said, adding, “it
is a clear case of corruption, which should be investigated into.”
Putting up a list of demands, the representation insisted
that the payment of their wages should be straight deposited in the nationalized
banks, the difference caused by the failure to implement the minimum wages should be paid to them with effect from the day on which they had begun to work on contract, and FIR should be lodged against the contractor, who has not deposited their EPF money with the authorities.
The representation further asked the district collector to institute a case under the anti-atrocities Act against those who were forced them to clean up manual excreta, lying next to public toilets. “The new law, Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013 should be applied on those responsible”, it said. The Act prohibits manual scavenging, manual cleaning of septic tanks and sewers and unsanitary toilets.
The representation further asked the district collector to institute a case under the anti-atrocities Act against those who were forced them to clean up manual excreta, lying next to public toilets. “The new law, Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013 should be applied on those responsible”, it said. The Act prohibits manual scavenging, manual cleaning of septic tanks and sewers and unsanitary toilets.
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