Working 'unprotected' in hazardous conditions, heat wave doubles Safai Karmacharis' sufferings

By Bezwada Wilson*

The unrelenting heatwave conditions in many parts of the country have gone on record as being the most severe ever in the country. Temperatures have reached close to 50°C in many parts of North and Nort West India, including the National Capital Region.

This has been the longest spell of heatwave in India because it has been experienced for about 35 days in different parts of the country, according to Indian Meteorological Department. But some essential works -- like those of Safai Karmacharis, which is already hazardous in nature -- offer no protection from this brutal weather.

An immediate intervention is needed in this regard to protect health and lives of Safai Karmacharis. Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) has written to 12 chief ministers of various states to take swift action for this.

As per news reports, already more than 300 people have died and more than 30,000 have suffered from heatstroke, across country. But the bitter fact is that most of the deaths or severe illness have happened either due to lack of proper shelter or very poor working conditions which exposed people to the extreme heat conditions. It has now become a common sight to see people faint and fell down unconscious even after a very short exposure to the sun.

The hospitals have seen an alarming increase in incidents of severe headache, fevers, dehydrations- all typical symptoms of heatstroke.

However, the education and many other sectors has already factored in the extreme heat conditions and taken precautionary measures like reduced work hours or change in timings so as to limit the exposure to the heat. Colleges and schools have extended the summer holidays to reopen when the temperatures decrease to a more tolerable level.

But to a large dismay, the working conditions of Safai Karmacharis have always been substandard and in complete violation of the labour laws and policies of the country. The Safai Karmacharis clean public latrines, open drains, railway tracks, sewers and septic tanks in all seasons around the year, without any protective measures.

The extreme heat conditions aggravates and exacerbates the already existing chronic health problems of the skin and respiratory system that the Safai Karamcharis are facing because of the inhumane occupation of manual scavenging and handling human excreta and waste with bare hands.

Already more persons have been killed in the sewer and septic tanks in the months of April and May this year than corresponding months

Extreme heat conditions also increase the dangers of the toxic gases in the sewer holes and septic tanks. But still the employers and contractors who employ the Safai Karmacharis are making them enter these toxic gas chambers without a break or any consideration of the dangerous conditions prevailing.

Already more persons have been killed in the sewer and septic tanks in the months of April and May this year than corresponding months.

Compounding the problem, the exclusionary practice of discrimination and untouchability in the Indian social structure on the basis of caste, it is very difficult or nearly impossible for the Safai Karmacharis to access water or shelter either for drinking or washing during the working hours. The employers and offices do not make any provision for water or shade for the Safai Karmacharis and force them to work during the hottest part of the day.

The Safai Karmacharis are not provided with any protective measures like sun hats, sun veils, water, gloves and footwear. The health of the Safai Karmacharis suffers a lot due to this. They have to bear skin rashes, sun burns, blisters, gastric issues, respiratory issues and severe dehydration.

Keeping this in mind, the Safai Karmachari Andolan has demanded that state governments must issue an immediate notification on the following:

Work to be closed before 9.30 am
Plenty of water to be provided for both washing and drinking. Water breaks must be made mandatory once every half hour
All sun protective gear to be provided to the Safai Karmacharis
Additional renumeration which is at least 30% of their salary should be added to the salary to compensate for working during extreme weather conditions.

Considering that, heatwave forecast is still there for coming days, these steps should be taken at the earliest.

---

*National Convenor, Safai Karmchari Andolan

Comments

1857 War of Independence... when Hindu-Muslim separatism, hatred wasn't an issue

"The Sepoy Revolt at Meerut", Illustrated London News, 1857 By Shamsul Islam* Large sections of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs unitedly challenged the greatest imperialist power, Britain, during India’s First War of Independence which began on May 10, 1857; the day being Sunday. This extraordinary unity, naturally, unnerved the firangees and made them realize that if their rule was to continue in India, it could happen only when Hindus and Muslims, the largest two religious communities were divided on communal lines.

The curious case of multiple entries of a female voter of Maharashtra: What ECI's online voter records reveal

By Venkatesh Nayak* Cyberspace is agog with data, names and documents which question the reliability of the electoral rolls prepared by the electoral bureaucracy in Maharashtra prior to the General Elections conducted in 2024. One such example of deep dive probing has brought to the surface, the name of one female voter in the 132-Nalasopara (Gen) Vidhan Sabha Constituency in Maharashtra. Nalasopara is part of the Palghar (ST) Lok Sabha constituency. This media report claims that this individual's name figures multiple times in the voter list of the same constituency.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

Spirit of leadership vs bondage: Of empowered chairman of 100-acre social forestry coop

By Gagan Sethi* This is about Khoda Sava, a young Dalit belonging to the Vankar sub-caste, who worked as a bonded labourer in a village near Vadgam in Banskantha district of North Gujarat. The year was 1982. Khoda had taken a loan of Rs 7,000 from the village sarpanch, a powerful landlord doing money-lending as his side business. Khoda, who had taken the loan for marriage, was landless. Normally, villagers would mortgage their land if they took loan from the sarpanch. But Khoda had no land. He had no option but to enter into a bondage agreement with the sarpanch in order to repay the loan. Working in bondage on the sarpanch’s field meant that he would be paid Rs 1,200 per annum, from which his loan amount with interest would be deducted. He was also obliged not to leave the sarpanch’s field and work as daily wager somewhere else. At the same time, Khoda was offered meal once a day, and his wife job as agricultural worker on a “priority basis”. That year, I was working as secretary...

Proposed Modi yatra from Jharkhand an 'insult' of Adivasi hero Birsa Munda: JMM

Counterview Desk The civil rights network, Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha (JMM), which claims to have 30 grassroots groups under its wings, has decided to launch Save Democracy campaign to oppose Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vikasit Bharat Sankalp Yatra to be launched on November 15 from the village of legendary 19th century tribal independence leader Birsa Munda from Ulihatu (Khunti district).

Ground reality: Israel would a remain Jewish state, attempt to overthrow it will be futile

By NS Venkataraman* Now that truce has been arrived at between Israel and Hamas for a period of four days and with release of a few hostages from both sides, there is hope that truce would be further extended and the intensity of war would become significantly less. This likely “truce period” gives an opportunity for the sworn supporters and bitter opponents of Hamas as well as Israel and the observers around the world to introspect on the happenings and whether this war could have been avoided. There is prolonged debate for the last several decades as to whom the present region that has been provided to Jews after the World War II belong. View of some people is that Jews have been occupants earlier and therefore, the region should belong to Jews only. However, Christians and those belonging to Islam have also lived in this regions for long period. While Christians make no claim, the dispute is between Jews and those who claim themselves to be Palestinians. In any case...

Two more "aadhaar-linked" Jharkhand deaths: 17 die of starvation since Sept 2017

Kaleshwar's sons Santosh and Mantosh Counterview Desk A fact-finding team of the Right to Feed Campaign, pointing towards the death of two more persons due to starvation in Jharkhand, has said that this has happened because of the absence of aadhaar, leading to “persistent lack of food at home and unavailability of any means of earning.” It has disputed the state government claims that these deaths are due to reasons other than starvation, adding, the authorities have “done nothing” to reduce the alarming state of food insecurity in the state.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Morbi’s ceramic workers face silicosis epidemic, 92% denied legal health benefits: PTRC study

By Rajiv Shah A new study by the Gujarat-based health rights organisation, Peoples Training and Research Centre (PTRC), warns that most workers in Morbi district’s ceramic industry—which produces 90% of India’s ceramic output—are at high risk of contracting silicosis, a deadly occupational disease.

Search This Blog