Evidence that manual scavenging is widespread in Karnataka resurfaced from Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) when it claimed the lives of three workers last month.
Evidence that manual scavenging is widespread in Karnataka resurfaced from Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) when it claimed the lives of three workers last month.
Activists, who protested in the city on Wednesday, held the district administration responsible for the deaths and plight of about 1,000 families that eke out a living by cleaning the dry latrines of KGF.
The three workers belonged to the one-year-old Safai Karmachari Horata Samiti. The movement is now leaderless after the death of its president Kuttiprasad. Its other members are now being harassed and FIRs have been filed against them, the activists said. They demanded that action be taken against the district commissioner.
“No numbers are available either with the state or the Centre,” said Ramprasad Rao, a member of PUCL.
“The only remedy to septic tanks or dry latrines is underground drains. KGF has dry latrines. There is constant demand for the services of sanitary workers. The government is not willing to provide drains. Machines that can be used for cleaning this are few and they do not work most of the time,” he said.
According to Padma M, coordinator of the samiti, there are about 950 families in KGF that earn a livelihood by cleaning dry toilets.
Only 450 of these were given jobs for three months and then removed without an explanation. They had no choice but to turn to scavenging again.
“It is not regular work. And when these jobs do come along, they cannot turn them down as it is the only way they can get a meal,” she said.
Activists said that the families carrying out manual scavenging are looking to the government to provide them alternative jobs, education for their children, and healthcare.
“The families are given loans of `20,000 or `30,000. That is passed off as rehabilitation. The entire sum does not reach them. Also, that money is not what they need or what will bring them out of this line of work,” Rao said.
Activist Babaiah said that the scavenging has been going on for decades irrespective of which party has been at the helm.
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