WR indifference soils sanitation workers’ lives
A law banning manual scavenging was enacted in 1993. Yet, at Ahmedabad Rly Station, workers are spotted picking up plastic bags and paper cups along with human waste
Posted On Thursday, July 28, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011072820110728033653853293a70fb/WR-indifference-soils-sanitation-workers’-lives.html)
Despite a long-standing ban on manual scavenging, safai workers at Ahmedabad Railway Station are still engaged in this inhuman work. The Kalupur station is vying to become a world-class terminal and Western Railway authorities are spending crores to keep the place spic-and-span all day, every day. Yet a look at the accompanying photographs will make you wonder how much of this is spent on the workers’ personal protective gear.A law banning manual scavenging was enacted in 1993. Still, at the station, workers are spotted picking up plastic bags and paper cups along with human waste.
Around 110 trains pass through the station daily. Every day, 130 workers clean the station. Fifty of these keep the tracks free of filth.
The cleaning contract has been given to a firm that clears garbage on the tracks using jet spray machines. But before the machines are brought out, safai kamdars are seen clearing the tracks of litter, especially plastic bags, to prevent it from choking the drains. For this task, they are armed with nothing but brooms and a neon yellow jacket. Many a times, they remove the filth using bare hands.
Said a railway employee, seeking anonymity, “It is clearly mentioned in the contract that safai kamdars have to be dressed appropriately. They have to wear a cap, gum boots, masks and hand gloves. They should have a separate room to change their outfit and be subjected to regular health check-ups.”
The ground reality is different. The photographs show workers in slippers, walking through the tracks, cleaning human waste. “We do not have protective gear. We get Rs 75 to Rs 100 for working anywhere from 8 to 12 hours. All we have is the jacket and broom. We get no other facilities. In fact, we do not even know what it is we are entitled to. Most of the workers are youths and women,” said a safai worker.
On Friday, a railway committee arrived at the station to check the condition that sanitation kamdars worked in. Rajya Sabha member Raju Parmar spoke to employees who complained about lack of facilities provided to them.
He told Mirror, “We had informed the officials about our arrival. Yet, the divisional railway manager was nowhere to be seen. The additional DRM did not have the details we seek. The officials refuse to take us seriously. We have asked them questions and received replies six months later, and this, after repeated reminders. When we insisted that the DRM be present for the meeting, he arrived at the office but claimed ignorance about the issue.”
Irked by the attitude, Parmar said, “If we find that the ban has been violated, we will file a criminal case against the railway officials. We will conduct a surprise check to confirm our doubts.”
Meanwhile DRM Rakesh Behal said, “We have outsourced the cleaning job. Whenever we ask the contractor, he says that his employees refuse to wear protection gear. When we carry out an inspection, everyone is wearing the correct outfit. However, we will ensure that someone is held responsible if the workers are found working without protective clothes.”
