Caste-Based Oppression and Sanitation in India: The Persistent Burden of Manual Scavenging
This essay, based on The Hindu’s front-page story titled “92% of Workers Cleaning Urban Sewers, Septic Tanks Belong to SC, ST, OBC Groups, Finds Survey” (September 30, 2024), argues that despite legislative efforts and initiatives like the NAMASTE scheme, caste-based occupational segregation persists, forcing marginalised communities, especially Dalits, into hazardous sanitation work. This reflects the ongoing challenge of deeply entrenched caste oppression that India has yet to fully address.
Introduction:
The practice of manual scavenging in India remains a glaring example of caste-based discrimination, with 92% of workers engaged in this hazardous occupation belonging to marginalised communities such as Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC). This data, despite progressive legislation like the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act of 2013, highlights the persistent legacy of caste in dictating labour roles, particularly the most dehumanising forms of sanitation work. This essay critically analyses the historical, social, and legal dimensions of this issue, while evaluating the effectiveness of initiatives such as the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) and the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), showing that despite efforts, much more is needed to ensure dignity and safety for India’s sanitation workers.
Caste and Occupational Segregation: A Historical Legacy
Manual scavenging, historically reserved for the lowest strata of Indian society, particularly Dalits, reflects the enduring legacy of caste-based occupational segregation. The caste system, grounded in notions of purity and pollution, has perpetuated a strict division of labour that confines marginalised communities to the most degrading tasks, such as cleaning human excreta and sewers. These roles were sanctioned by ancient religious and social texts like the Narada Samhita and Vajasaneyi Samhita, which prescribed certain duties for specific castes, institutionalising the practice of manual scavenging. Even as India moved towards modernity, this social order remained entrenched, ensuring that sanitation work continued to be performed primarily by Dalits.
The 2019-2023 government survey showing that 68.9% of sewer cleaners are from SC communities, followed by 14.7% from OBC groups and 8.3% from STs, underscores the continuing impact of this historical legacy. Despite constitutional guarantees of equality and social justice initiatives aimed at rehabilitating manual scavengers, these communities remain trapped in generational cycles of poverty and dehumanising work. Their limited access to education, health, and alternative livelihoods exacerbates this issue, making it difficult for individuals from these marginalised groups to escape the hazardous sanitation labour.
The Limits of Legal Reform: The 2013 Act and Beyond
While the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, marked a significant step towards addressing this historical injustice, its implementation has been fraught with challenges. The Act prohibits the employment of manual scavengers and mandates their rehabilitation into safer jobs. However, it has been criticised for not going far enough to fully eradicate manual scavenging, as it permits sanitation work if workers use protective equipment, effectively allowing the continuation of caste-based exploitation under the guise of safety.
Moreover, the judiciary has fallen short in addressing the fundamental issue of caste discrimination in manual scavenging. While the Supreme Court of India has upheld the rights of sanitation workers to life and safety in cases like Safai Karamchari Andolan v. Union of India, it has not fully engaged with the question of human dignity. The court’s failure to directly confront the caste-based exclusion that underpins manual scavenging reflects the larger societal reluctance to tackle this deep-seated issue head-on.
NAMASTE: A Step Towards Mechanisation but with Gaps
In response to the ongoing crisis, the Government of India introduced the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme, aimed at eliminating hazardous sewer and septic tank cleaning through mechanisation. The scheme seeks to replace manual cleaning with machines and provide sanitation workers with health insurance, safety equipment, and training to transition into safer occupations. NAMASTE’s objectives also include turning sanitation workers into entrepreneurs, or “sanipreneurs,” through financial and technical assistance.
While NAMASTE represents a positive move towards addressing the dangerous working conditions faced by sanitation workers, its effectiveness has been limited by incomplete profiling of workers and inadequate enforcement mechanisms. By 2023, the government had identified only 38,000 workers, far short of the estimated 100,000 sanitation workers employed by urban local bodies (ULBs) across the country. Many workers continue to be exposed to life-threatening conditions, often without basic safety gear, due to delays in implementing mechanised alternatives. Moreover, outdated sanitation infrastructure in many Indian cities still requires human intervention, exacerbating the risks faced by workers.
Human Cost: The Toll on Health and Life Expectancy
The physical and emotional toll on sanitation workers cannot be overstated. Between 2019 and 2023, at least 377 workers lost their lives while engaged in hazardous sanitation work, primarily due to asphyxiation from toxic gases in sewers and septic tanks. The overwhelming majority of these workers were from SC communities, illustrating the intersection of caste and occupational hazard.
In addition to the immediate dangers, sanitation workers also face long-term health risks, including chronic respiratory problems and decreased life expectancy. Studies estimate that the average life expectancy of a sanitation worker is between 40 and 45 years, far below the national average of 70 years. Substance abuse is also common among workers, as many turn to alcohol or drugs as a means of coping with the harsh realities of their work. This further compounds the socio-economic challenges faced by these already marginalised communities, reinforcing the generational cycle of poverty and exploitation.
Swachh Bharat Mission: A Symbolic but Incomplete Initiative
The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), launched with the ambitious goal of making India open defecation-free (ODF), has been criticised for focusing primarily on infrastructure, such as toilet construction, while ignoring the caste-based dynamics that perpetuate manual scavenging. SBM’s emphasis on private toilet ownership and subsidies does little to change the underlying social structures that force marginalised communities into sanitation work.
Furthermore, SBM’s reliance on outdated technologies, such as twin-pit pour-flush toilets, ensures the continued need for manual labour in waste disposal. This reliance perpetuates the very system that SBM claims to challenge. Without addressing the root causes of caste-based labour divisions, SBM risks being more symbolic than transformative. Its failure to address the human cost of sanitation labour means that Dalits continue to be trapped in degrading work, despite the apparent progress.
Towards a Holistic Approach: Dismantling Caste-Based Labour
The persistence of caste-based occupational segregation in sanitation work underscores the need for a more holistic approach to reform. As both legislative efforts and government initiatives like NAMASTE and SBM have shown, technological fixes and infrastructure improvements alone are not enough to dismantle the deeply entrenched caste-based division of labour in Indian society. A transformative shift is required, one that directly confronts the socio-economic and cultural barriers keeping marginalised communities in hazardous sanitation work..
A truly comprehensive approach would involve stronger enforcement of existing laws, the complete abolition of manual scavenging, and greater political will to address the caste-based discrimination that underlies these practices. Moreover, efforts must be made to ensure that sanitation work is no longer relegated to marginalised communities, with government programs offering real opportunities for workers to transition into dignified and safe employment.
Conclusion: A Long Road Ahead
The enduring legacy of caste in Indian sanitation work continues to trap SC, ST, and OBC communities in hazardous occupations, despite legislative measures and government initiatives aimed at their eradication. The NAMASTE scheme, while a step in the right direction, has yet to achieve its full potential due to incomplete implementation and the lack of robust enforcement. Similarly, the Swachh Bharat Mission, despite its infrastructural achievements, has failed to address the caste-based exploitation that remains central to India’s sanitation crisis.
Ultimately, breaking the generational cycle of caste-based labour in sanitation requires not only mechanisation and legal reforms but a societal shift in attitudes towards caste and labour. India’s path towards true modernity and development will only be complete when its most vulnerable citizens are no longer forced into the most dangerous and dehumanising jobs based solely on their caste.