Context
Recent facts show that sadly 92% of workers that clean urban sewers and septic tanks in India come from the marginalized groups, SC, ST, and OBC. This has been augmented by the current study which sheds light on the socio economic vulnerability of the groups and as such policy intervention is highly desirable.
Data Collection Under the NAMASTE Programme
The information was collected with the help of the NAMASTE programme realised by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. This program also envisages dealing with the dangerous situations involving the sewage workers and mechanization of the sewer cleaning to avoid such incidence. The information is based on 3,054 urban local bodies of 29 states and union territories that included info about 37,896 workers. The breakdown of this workforce is as follows:
- 68.9% from Scheduled Castes (SC)
- 14.7% from Other Backward Classes (OBC)
- 8.3% from Scheduled Tribes (ST)
- 8% from the general category.
Health Risks and Fatalities
The working conditions of these laborers are therefore beyond any doubt very risky. At least 377 people died from sewer and septic tank cleaning mishaps in the period 2019-2023. These statistics underlay the fact that the jobs involve health risks of those standards therefore the government must take an immediate action to protect these people.
Socio-Economic Implications
The dominance of SC, ST and OBC employees in this workforce clearly depicts the stratification system in India. A large number of these workers are stuck in low wage occupations with little possibilities of career advancement. Such profiling represents part of the governmental task to better understand the socio-economic situation of these workers, which is rather essential for policy making.
Employment Status
The overwhelming proportion of these workers is employed in low-risk occupations that are frequently devoid of elementary protections. Continuing with reservation policies of caste, they are limited in their ability to get better paying jobs and to advance in society.
Government Initiatives: The NAMASTE Programme
The NAMASTE programme is not only intended to promote portraitature of sanitation workers but it also has conceto mechanising the process of cleaning sewers to avert health perils. Key objectives include:
- Offering training on safety conditions and safety required equipment to the workers.
- Provision of capital subsidy in order to encourage self-employment activities.
- Updating the workers into “sanipreneurs,” or sanitation entrepreneurs, in a way that would improve their income standing.
Political Response and Caste Census Advocacy
- Based on these findings, the political parties, especially the Congress, have again sought to conduct caste census.
- They opine that to cater equal opportunity to avail government policies and funds for work related risk taking is crucial, knowing the demography with the risky working population.
- This potential demographic data conflict has potential to upset the Congress party’s public pronouncements on caste by challenging its commitment to carry out a caste census soon while underlining that data is necessary to frame policies targeting the SCs, Gender and OBCs.
Challenges Ahead
Despite government efforts, several challenges remain:
- Social Stigma: Employees of SC, ST, and OBC also suffer job discrimination, employment opportunities for them are very less.
- Health Risks: When people are facing hazardous conditions regularly the health risks are very high.
- Ineffective Rehabilitation: Present policies may not cater for all categories of employees uniformly such that some employees are completely unrecognized or unsupported.
Conclusion: A Call for Comprehensive Action
The fact that 92% of sewer and septic tank cleaners are from marginalized communities is not just numbers, it is an agenda for policy makers. RFC and other employees’ lives will improve when adequate training programs, effective measures on safety, and more funding on mechanization are provided. Besides, a caste census would help reveal the underlying problems in structures and thus inform more appropriate strategies.
Source: News 18