Bare hands, broken lives: The untold story of Odisha's drain cleaners
It's a narrow definition of law that keeps these sanitary workers out of the ambit of social security while denying them safety and dignity at work.
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 (or MS Act, 2013) defines manual scavengers as people who manually clean or handle untreated human excreta from insanitary latrines or railway tracks. Under Section 2(g) of the Act, hazardous cleaning of sewer lines, septic tanks, manholes and interceptor chambers is strictly prohibited and a punishable offence.
As per reports of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Odisha had only 230 manual scavengers (till July 2024) and there are no dry/insanitary latrines (which need manual cleaning) in the state. These 230 persons have been completely rehabilitated, as per government records.
Workers like Purnima and Dhananjay scavenge all forms of waste including human waste from open drains but do not come under the ambit of manual scavenging given the definition. Because, they do not work in dry/insanitary latrines which as per official records do not exist. And going by the same definition, the Odisha government asserts that the state is free from the practice of manual scavenging which is majorly mechanised now.
The Safai Karamchari Andolan in Odisha has long been demanding identification of workers engaged for drain desiltation as manual scavengers but in vain. National convenor of the Andolan and Ramon Magsaysay awardee Bezwada Wilson said it is a fact that many houses in urban areas of Odisha do not have septic tanks even today. 'Both kitchen and bathroom water and everything else comes to these drains including untreated human excreta. So, cleaning these drains should be considered manual scavenging,' added Wilson.
All the civic bodies play it smartly as they outsource the drain desiltation work to private agencies who, in turn, employ sanitary workers on a daily wage basis. Considered unskilled, these workers get roughly around Rs 430 per day as daily wage. And work without any form of protection. Only a few are under the payroll of the agencies which provide them a salary of around Rs 12,000 with EPF benefits.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
India-Maldives Bilateral Trade Jumps 3-Fold In Last 7 Years
New Delhi: Bilateral trade between India and the Maldives has registered a more than 3-fold jump over the past seven years from $223 million in 2017–18 to $680 million in 2024–25, according to official figures. India's exports to the Maldives rose from $217 million in FY 2017-18 to $561 million in FY 2024-25, while imports from the Maldives expanded from $6 million to $119 million during the same period. The trade between the two countries is expected to increase further with Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing a Rs 4,850 crore line of credit to the Maldives during his recent visit to the island nation last month. Additionally, PM Modi announced that discussions for a free trade agreement have also started between the two countries. India has decided to promote renewable energy in the Maldives and will share its experience in this sector with the Indian Ocean neighbour. PM Modi visited the Maldives at the invitation of President Mohamed Muizzu and attended the country's 60th Independence Day celebrations as the Guest of Honour. This also represented a turnaround in relations with the Muizzu government, which came to power in 2023. The turnaround in the bilateral ties assumes significance as President Muizzu, known to be close to China, was known for his anti-India rhetoric while in the opposition as part of his political strategy to oust the earlier government. The Maldives is one of India's key maritime neighbours in the Indian Ocean Region, and the overall bilateral ties, including in areas of defence and security, witnessed an upward trajectory under the previous governments in Male. This sentiment is embedded in India's Neighbourhood First policy and the MAHASAGAR vision, which recognises that the security and prosperity of the region are inseparable. India's approach is grounded in the belief that small island nations are not peripheral actors in global affairs but are frontline states in the fight against climate change, guardians of critical sea lanes, and partners in maritime security. The Maldives, straddling vital shipping routes, occupies a central place in India's Indian Ocean strategy.
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Who is CP Radhakrishnan, NDA's pick for Vice President
The BJP-led NDA on Sunday named Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan as its nominee for the upcoming Vice Presidential election. The announcement followed a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentary board, attended by senior leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit announcement was made by BJP national president and Union Minister JP Nadda, following the sudden resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on July 21 due to health reasons. Dhankhar, 74, stepped down two years into his term, which began in August 2022. advertisementWHO IS CP RADHAKRISHNAN?Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan took oath as the Governor of Maharashtra on July 31, 2024. Prior to this, he served as the Governor of Jharkhand for about one and a half years, according to the Maharashtra Raj Bhavan website. During his time in Jharkhand, he was also given additional charge as the Governor of Telangana and Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry by the President of India. CP Radhakrishnan has more than four decades of experience in public life and politics in Tamil Nadu. He was born on 20 October 1957 in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur and completed his Bachelor's degree in Business began his public life as a volunteer of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In 1974, he became a State Executive Committee member of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh in Tamil Nadu. In 1996, Radhakrishnan was appointed Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tamil Nadu. Radhakrishnan served two terms as Lok Sabha MP from Coimbatore in 1998 and 1999. During his tenure, he chaired the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Textiles and was a member of the committees on Public Sector Undertakings and was also part of a parliamentary delegation to the UN General Assembly (2004) and the first Indian delegation to Taiwan. Before becoming the Governor of Jharkhand, he served as the BJP State President in Tamil Nadu from 2004 to 2007. During this time, he led a 93-day, 19,000-km Ratha Yatra, focused on interlinking rivers, removing untouchability, implementing a uniform civil code, fighting terrorism and addressing drug issues. Radhakrishnan played a key role in public administration during his tenure as Chairman of the Coir Board from 2016 to 2020, overseeing record export figures that reached Rs 2,532 crore. From 2020 to 2022, he was the All India in Charge of BJP for has maintained a long-standing interest in sports. During his college years, he was a champion in table tennis and long-distance running. He also actively participated in cricket and volleyball.- EndsMust Watch
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
Day off cancelled, Delhi employees forced to attend PM's rally: AAP shares video
The Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday accused the BJP of forcing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) employees to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in the city. The party alleged that the sanitation workers and other staff's Sunday-off was cancelled and were threatened with suspension or dismissal if they refused to Minister Modi addressed a gathering in Rohini, inaugurated the Dwarka Expressway and the Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II), projects worth nearly Rs 11,000 crore. PM Modi also addressed a rally after the also shared videos on social media to support its claims. In one clip, a speaker alleged, 'By issuing a Tughlaqi order, they were told that whoever does not come today will be terminated by the DC, or they will be suspended. This is the kind of open threats and hooliganism that the BJP government in Delhi is doing with our MCD sanitation worker brothers today.'Boycott .... AAP (@AamAadmiParty) August 17, 2025 Another video showed a sanitation worker describing how he was forced to attend despite personal family commitments. He claimed that workers were 'kept sitting under pressure' and warned against disobeying Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia called the move an insult to teachers. 'Sending teachers in Delhi to clap at Modi ji's rally under government orders is a gross insult to teachers by the BJP. Teachers are nation-builders, not a crowd for some rally,' he said. He contrasted the BJP's approach with the AAP government's record of sending teachers to Finland and Cambridge for training, alleging that the ruling party 'has reduced them to merely clapping.", , Manish Sisodia (@msisodia) August 17, 2025AAP state president Saurabh Bhardwaj, addressing a press conference, claimed that employees were pressured into attending. 'To fill the shortage of BJP workers, employees of MCD and other departments have been pressurised and sent to the rally venue,' he further alleged that sanitation workers, malaria department staff, licenced branch employees, and MCD school teachers were transported to the venue in .... AAP (@AamAadmiParty) August 17, 2025Atishi, Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, also accused the BJP of misusing MCD staff. 'BJP has made Safai Karamcharis (sanitation workers) their political workers. The BJP should answer. On what basis were the Safai Karamcharis called in the name of duty on Sunday and sent to the rally? Is it the job of MCD to increase the crowd in Modi ji's rally?' she asked on X.- EndsMust Watch
