Of all forms of slavery that human civilization has devised, nothing is more degrading, despicable and inhuman than

the practice of manual scavenging. It

is a forced labor imposed upon a group of people who are doomed to carry
this occupation generation after generation. Their identity and status in society is
linked to the occupation which becomes a cause for exclusion in taking up any
other work. Due to the very nature of the task, they perform, their bodies, nay even
their sight, is considered a source of pollution. They are therefore untouchable and
unapproachable. They are also decreed to shun any social contact with people of
other social groups and are physically segregated and settled in separate colonies
at a fair distance from the main village and urban residential settlement. There are
an elaborate set of social norms and restrictions which are imposed on them. They
are permanently subordinated to the other social groups and have to abide by some
customary social norms which are rigorously enforced by all forms of social violence
and deprivations (Carlsen, 2016; Human Rights Watch, 2014). The enduring
nature of this slavery lies in the collective social force of higher castes which
sustains it and renders laws enacted for the abolition of manual scavenging and
policies made for rehabilitation of scavengers ineffective.
Manual scavenging means manually cleaning, (using brooms and tin plates)
carrying, (in baskets over head to designated sites) disposing of or otherwise
handling in any manner, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open
drain or a pit into which human excreta from unsanitary latrines is disposed
of, or on a railway track or in other spaces or premises before the excreta fully
decomposes.
(Hake, 2015)
Manual scavengers are those who carry out this task. Manual scavengers also
carry out other unsanitary tasks, which include disposing of animal carcasses,
cleaning blood and placenta during child birth, removing clothes and utensils of
the deceased from cremation grounds, cremating unclaimed corpses, cleaning
drains and septic tanks, disposing of non-excretal waste from households, performing
autopsies in hospitals, etc. (Ramaswamy, 2005

The occupation of manual scavenging in India is rooted in the caste-based Hindu

social order, which governs the social, economic and cultural life of people. This
order follows the Varna system, which divides the society into four social groups,
hierarchically ranked in terms of status defined by their respective occupations.
Brahmins are at the top and Sharecare at the bottom. There is a fifth social
formation consisting of those who perform polluting tasks and are therefore considered
untouchables. Manual scavengers are included in this fifth social formation,
and they are placed at the bottom of it. There are stringent norms of social
interaction among these groups based on the premises of pollution and purity.
This linkage between social status and occupation is hereditary and implies its
immutability, which is not amenable to alteration through efforts of an individual
member/members in a group or external force.
Pathak (2015) traces the origin of manual scavenging to a pre-Aryan period,
although the Harappan civilization had an extensive network of underground
drainage and sewerage. It seems that the origin of manual scavenging in India
lies in the conquest of the Aryan people over the Dravidians who were enslaved.
The latter were assimilated into the Hindu Society, but at the bottom of the social
order. Vedic and Post-Vedic period sacred literature, such as Narada Samhita,
Vajasne Samhita, Chandogya Upanishad and Aitarey Brahmin, also confirm the
assignment of work relating to disposal of human excreta to this group known
as Chandalas, Dassin Paulkus who were viewed as degraded persons. The
Dharmashastrasideclared Candelaria’s the illegitimate progeny of a Brahmin
women and a Hardiman. As per Manu, these people were made to live outside
the village and were prohibited from entering villages and towns during the day
time, but were allowed to come to the towns during night hours for cleaning toilets
and removing night soil. Mauryan and Gupta Period also contain references
to the existence of such a group. The practice was further institutionalized during
the Mughal period due to the observance of Purdah (veil) by women among Muslim households and in particular from
the ruling class that secluded Muslim women within the four walls of the house. They were prohibited from going out
for defecation. Bucket privies were designed for their use in the household, which were required to be cleaned and
scavengers were made to do this task. Some of the
manual scavengers accepted Islam, attracted to its egalitarian approach, and were
called Halakhos. Akbar reportedly called them by a less pejorative nomenclature
of ‘Mehta’s’ (Pathak, 2015). Some of the existing scavengers are descendants of
other castes including of Kshatriyas (Nagar 1980 cited in Pathak, 2015).
Shinoda (2002) finds the practice of manual scavenging originating at a later
Mughal period. He traces its origin to urbanization that resulted in the construction
of dry latrine. He also refers to the construction of a public toilet by Emperor
Jahangir in Alwar in AD 1556. The number of such dry latrines were small but
increased enormously during the British period with an increase in urban population,
the establishment of colonies for segments of the ruling class, the cantonment
for army personnel, an increase in Government offices, etc. where they
were attached to the residential buildings. This pattern was later adopted by other
urban dwellers. As the demand for manual scavenging increased, people who
were engaged in sweeping work also took to it as an additional source of income.
The increased demand also resulted in migration to certain parts of the country
where there were no indigenous scavengers. Gradually, sweeping and scavenging
became an exclusive occupation of a section of the population (Shinoda, 2002). D’
Rosario (2016) shares similar view and attributes the origin of manual scavenging
to urbanization and mass production of garbage requiring its disposal. Another
scholar also views the emergence of manual scavenging as an urban phenomenon,
as, due to practice of open defecation in rural areas, there was no need for manual
scavenging (Chaplin, 2002). D’Souza also argues that the process of urbanization
and the state action played a significant role in establishing members of a Dalit
caste as manual scavengers in urban areas (D’Souza, 2016). The British colonial
administration gave it an official sanction by creating the posts of scavengers in
municipalities, Government offices, railways and industries, and reserved these
jobs for members of a particular caste (Hake, 2015). Thus, the practice became
closely associated with a caste (D’ Rosario, 2016).
Manual scavenging is not a uniquely Indian phenomenon. Even in Europe,
manual scavenging started with the construction of public toilets, but ended with
the invention of water closet toilets in 1596 and the flush type of toilets in 1870
(Hake, 2015). Before the invention of the water toilet and piped water supply,
night soil was collected from the privy vaults in cities by persons during the night
and taken to farming areas. Farmers who came to cities for selling their ago
produce took away the night soil as fertilizer (Christopher 1980 cited in Pathak,
2015). However, in Europe, it was not associated with a particular social group. It
was not a caste phenomenon. Scavenging also existed in Arabia before the emergence
of Islam, but there too without its association with the concept of pollution
and hereditary transfer of the occupation to a particular section of society (Pathak,
2015).