![]() ![]() We tell the story in the voice of C S Sharada Prasad. ![]() This article describes a slice of life in one community of manual scavengers from the Valmiki caste in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in December 2014. 2011 PM Manmohan Singh referred to manual scavenging as one of the darkest. It is clear, however, that India’s ambitious sanitation initiative has to put as much effort and financing into the dignity and health of its sanitation workers, and into enforcing its toilet design guidelines as it is putting into eliminating open defecation. It is not clear how the SBM will mitigate their conditions it is not clear if the demand for their labour will increase or decrease in its wake. Much has been written about the dehumanising conditions of their work, and the stigmas they face in their lives. Millions of existing, and even some new latrines, remain “dry.” Household-level dry latrines in India, despite the abolition of manual scavenging, continue to be serviced by scavengers. Though the SBM (Urban) guidelines clearly call for either connecting toilets to sewers or constructing on-site treatment, these guidelines may not be enforced locally. Its overarching goal is to eliminate open defecation building new latrines, increasing their use, and raising awareness are the cornerstones of this significant initiative. It has been almost four years since, invoking the name of Mahatma Gandhi and declaring that India needed toilets over temples, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). ![]()
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