Ahmedabad's sanitation workers, on strike, were forced to do manual scavenging at 200 spots

Amidst continuing strike by sanitation workers attached with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in favour of regularizing their employment, latest facts reveal there are more than 200 spots where they are "forced" to do the despicable job of manual scavenging in a city which is desperately waiting to acquire the UNESCO Heritage tag.
Apart from “cleaning up” the city every day, the sanitation workers, most of whom belong to the Valmiki community, must manually clean up human excreta at these 200 plus spots, these facts reveal. Worse, in some parts, such as the posh western zone, a great majority of them are forced to do it without being on government rolls, merely as contract workers.
According to information collected by a senior activist attached with the Ahmedabad-based NGO Janvikas, Jitendra Rathod, the AMC recently advertised in a top vernacular daily, “Gujarat Samachar” seek “objections”, if any, on declaring as many as 34 wards of Ahmedabad as open defecation free (ODF) under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachchha Bharat Mission.
Following the ad, which appeared in May, Janvikas, in alliance with a community organization working among the Valmikis, Manav Garima, conducted survey of these 34 wards. “We identified that there were 55 spots where open defecation is exists, which leads to manual scavenging”, Rathod said.
“We gave details with photographs of open defecation and raised our objections to declare 34 wards as ODF”, said Rathod, adding, however, “So far, no action has been taken in stopping open defecation in any of the wards. Already, three months have passed, yet no concrete details are being shared.”
A few days back, said Rathod, AMC again released an ad in “Gujarat Samachar” seeking information on declaring another eight wards as ODF, seeking objections, if any. “It is surprising. Is the AMC just completing formalities in order to declare the city ODF by publishing advertisement in newspapers?”, he asked.
Insisting that the practice of manual scavenging cannot be prohibited just by ads or chanting slogans, Rathod said, “One needs systematic steps and infrastructure to stop open defecation/manual scavenging. It requires sufficient sanitation facilities like individual or community toilets, drainage, water etc. in slum areas.”
“Otherwise”, he said, “The sanitation workers, nearly all of whom belong to to Valmiki community, would have no other option but forced to handle, remove, carry human excreta in cities like Ahmedabad.”
The sanitation workers' plight is particularly pitiable, as in the 178 square km western zone of the city, which is equal to the total area of Vadodara city, Gujarat's cultural capital, just about 219 of 2,463, working as daily wage workers, are regularized, with many of them are working for up to two decade. The western zone consists of Vejalpur, Bodakdev, Jodhpur, Thaltej, Sarkhej, Ghatlodiya, Gota, Chandlodiya, Ranip and Kali areas.
Led by Dalit leader Jignesh Makwana, the Jan Sangharsh Manch, representing the striking sanitation workers, has said in a note that they are “deprived of all the benefits that come with a permanent job including health, residency and retirement benefits etc.”
“Instead of following the principle of equal wage for equal work, these workers are firstly forced to work as daily wagers and paid much reduced wages as compared to permanent workers”, the note said, highlighting how they are being forced to enter into gutters without any safety equipment.
“They pick up garbage, spraying anti-malarial drugs, all of which lead to severe health issues, yet they have no health coverage”, it underlined, suggesting, instead of adopting a sympathetic attitude towards the sanitation workers, they are being targeted for creating health problems in the city for refusing to take care of cleanliness of the city, leading to health hazards to the citizens.
“On Sunday, around 30 sanitary workers, including four women, were detained by the Gujarat police for long hours for the simple act of protesting and an FIR was registered late in the night”, the note said, adding, “While detaining them the police abused and manhandled the workers. No lady constable or officer was present.”
Meanwhile, there are reports that the AMC is considering to impose Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to break the sanitation workers' strike, continuing for the last more than a week. It is not known how and under which law the government would impact ESMA on the daily wagers.

Comments

Beyond the Sattvik plate: Prof Anil Gupta's take on food, ethics, and sustainability

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a rather lengthy comment (I don't want to call it a rejoinder) on my blog post about the Sattvik Food Festival, held near the Sola Temple in Ahmedabad late last year. It came from no less a person than Anil Gupta, Professor Emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), under whose guidance this annual event was held.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

'Potentially lethal, carcinogenic': Global NGO questions India refusing to ban white asbestos

Associated with the Fight Inequality Alliance, a global movement that began in 2016 to "counter the concentration of power and wealth among a small elite", claiming to have members in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, the Philippines, and Denmark, the advocacy group Confront Power appears all set to intensify its campaign against India as "the world’s largest asbestos importer".

No to free thought? How Gujarat's private universities are cowing down their students

"Don't protest"—that's the message private universities across Gujarat seem to be conveying to their students. A senior professor told me that students at the university where he teaches are required to sign an undertaking promising not to engage in protests. "They simply sign the undertaking and hand it over to the university authorities," he said.

In lieu of tribute to Pritish Nandy, said to be instrumental in collapse of Reliance-controlled daily

It is widely reported that Pritish Nandy , journalist, author, animal activist, and politician, has passed away. While it is customary to pay tributes to a departing soul—and I, too, have joined those who have posted heartfelt condolences on social media—I cannot forget the way he treated me when he was editor of the Reliance-controlled Business and Political Observer (BPO), for which I had been working informally in Moscow.

Shyam Benegal's Mathan a propaganda film that supported 'system'? No way

A few days ago, I watched Manthan, a Shyam Benegal movie released in 1976. If I remember correctly, the first time I saw this movie was with Safdar Hashmi, one of the rare young theater icons who was brutally murdered in January 1989. Back then, having completed an M.A. in English Literature from Delhi University in 1975, we would often move around together.

Sattvik Food Festival: Shouldn't one question notion of purity, cultural exclusion in food choices?

Recently, I visited the Sattvik Food Festival, an annual event in Ahmedabad organized by Anil Gupta, professor emeritus at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A). I have known Prof. Gupta since 1993, when I sought an appointment to meet him a few months after joining The Times of India in Ahmedabad—one reason why I have always been interested in the activities he is involved in.

To be or not to be Sattvik: Different communities' differing notions of purity and fasting

This is a continuation of my last blog on Sattvik food. When talking about Sattvik, there is a tendency to overlook what it may mean to different sections of people around the world. First, let me redefine Sattvik: it means having a "serene, balanced, and harmonious mind or attitude." Derived from the Sanskrit word sattva, it variously means "pure, essence, nature, vital, energy, clean, conscious, strong, courage, true, honest, and wise." How do people achieve this so-called purity? Among Gujarati Hindus, especially those from the so-called upper castes who are vegetarians, one common way is fasting. On fasting days, such as agiyarash —the 11th day of the lunar cycle in the Vedic calendar—my close relatives fast but consume milk, fruit juices, mangoes, grapes, bananas, almonds, pistachios, and potato-based foods, including fried items. Another significant fasting period is adhik maas. During this time, many of my relatives "fast" by eating only a single me...

Would Gujarat Governor, govt 'open up' their premises for NGOs? Activists apprehensive

Soon after I uploaded my blog about the Gujarat Governor possibly softening his stance on NGOs—evidenced by allowing a fisherfolk association to address the media at a venue controlled by the Raj Bhawan about India’s alleged failure to repatriate fishermen from Pakistani prisons—one of the media conference organizers called me. He expressed concern that my blog might harm their efforts to secure permission to hold meetings on state premises.

Search This Blog