'Casteism Woven Into Our System, No Government Works To End It': Bezwada Wilson

No, there isn’t. Nothing like that exists.

Yes, that is mentioned in the 2013 Act and the rules framed under it. I was involved in that legislative process, so I know. The law and rules clearly outline what protective gear must be worn by anyone entering a sewer system or manhole…

The Act specifies actual safety gear. But before we talk about gear, the first point is: No human being is allowed to enter a sewer or manhole, except in case of an emergency.

So, if they enter a manhole, then they must wear gloves, mask, gumboots, a protective coat, and have access to oxygen cylinders, and prior notification must be given to a nearby medical facility and ambulance service. Only after all this is in place can someone be asked to enter—only in case of an emergency.

Sure. Suppose a cemented lid on a road breaks because a heavy vehicle passes over it. The debris will fall into the drain below, but it can’t just be allowed to sink—it must be lifted out. Someone might need to go in to do that. That’s an extraordinary circumstance; not something that should happen every day.

But currently, manual cleaning is still happening daily, which is a violation of the law. The Government of India should have implemented a time-bound mechanisation plan for cleaning sewage and septic tanks. The 2013 Act mandates it, and the Supreme Court reaffirmed it on March 27, 2014.

No, unfortunately, not at all. Successive governments haven’t taken any concrete steps. Instead, what we saw was the Prime Minister rushing to build toilets under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, but what about sewage worker deaths? Nobody talks about that. They talk about IIT students and start-ups building machines for cleaning drains and sewers, but what we need is real technology—and it already exists in India. We need to adapt and deploy it through proper research, development and analysis. There's no real R&D for sanitation in India, which is absurd, given the population of 140 crore people.

There is a lot of talk about the Namaste Scheme, where Safai Karmacharis who want to leave the occupation are offered loans to buy cleaning machines. But the Supreme Court said they must be offered dignified alternative livelihoods, not more cleaning work! But what is being done, instead, is that the government expects people to buy machines on loan and keep cleaning. That’s exploitation. If someone wants to clean, the government should provide the machine, pay proper skilled wages and treat it as formal employment. It should not turn the work into debt bondage.

This system is essentially a form of modern untouchability—a modern caste system. They want the community to keep doing this work, to take loans, fail to repay them and get trapped all over again. It’s a cycle.

Yes. Historically, Dalits were told, ‘You’re untouchable. You clean our toilets.’ It was institutionalised as their role. Now they want to leave it, but the system says, ‘Fine, but first buy a machine and clean our drains again.’ That’s oppression! Why should sanitation workers have to buy machines to clean sewage? That’s the government's responsibility. This is a skilled and dangerous job to boot. The workers must be paid a fair wage and the government must stop shifting the burden on to them.

We know over 2,300 have died in recent years. That’s only the official number. Many deaths go unreported, especially in remote areas.

No. The government claims it has conducted surveys, but their data is completely inaccurate. They say they have surveyed 50,000 manual scavengers. But people who have died recently, including in Delhi this March, are not in the list. That shows the government has not properly enumerated Safai Karmacharis working in sewers and septic tanks. This needs to be done urgently.

The government must launch a proper survey, identify how many want to exit the occupation and offer dignified alternative livelihoods to them. For those who choose to stay, they must be made into permanent employees, provided machines and then the field must be opened to all—not just Dalits.

This is what we want: that cleaning shouldn’t be a caste-based job anymore. It should be treated as a profession open to anyone, with protections and benefits.

The Delhi Jal Board employs Safai Karmacharis, especially for sewage and septic tank work. But they don’t officially admit it. They use contractors, which leads to even greater exploitation of the workers. Contractors pay as little as Rs 300-500, maybe Rs 1,000 if it is a big septic tank and requires a team of three or four people to do the job. This work is often done in the cover of darkness, at night, when nobody is around. But recall that it’s not just a wage issue—it’s a human rights issue, a matter of dignity, self-respect and constitutional rights. Manual scavenging is prohibited—yet it continues.

They’re political appointees. When we went to the Supreme Court, from 2003 to 2014, the Commission sided with the government, not with us. Their website claims only 1,313 deaths have occurred since 1993, which is completely false. We write letters for every death, but they miss recording many. Their data is incomplete. Even the Social Justice Minister of State, Ramdas Athawale, has claimed that there are no manual scavengers. That’s an unacceptable remark for a leader of the country to make.

We submit information to the Prime Minister’s Office, the NITI Aayog, and other bodies, but what is done as a result? They send police to villages to verify if people are manually cleaning toilets—basically to intimidate them. People are scared to admit it happens, fearing arrest. It is a farce.

They say there is. But how can workers living in remote villages, many of whom are illiterate or have no access to smartphones, register online? It’s unrealistic to expect them to.

The government needs to conduct a proper enumeration, create a rehabilitation package, announce it publicly and people will come forward. But without trust, they won’t.

Lakhs of women across Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were involved in this work. Most of them were never rehabilitated. The government has failed them all.

There’s no standard process. Only when there are rallies or media pressure, is any compensation offered. Otherwise, nothing is done.

To manipulate numbers. But the definition in the Act is clear: any handling of untreated human excreta in any form is manual scavenging—whether in sewers, toilets or drains. This cannot just be changed at will. For example, the Indian Railways has sought and been given more time to phase out the use of toilets whose waste must be manually cleaned. Otherwise, they would be the biggest offenders against this act, though not the only ones. But that exemption they have got is in itself an admission that manual scavenging exists.

Yes, segregation is yet another neglected area. Chemical waste, medical syringes, there’s no plan for their safe disposal. Garbage is treated as garbage. And there is no scientific planning. We celebrate Chandrayaan, but we need to focus on addressing issues here on earth first.