Safai Karmacharis wait for their dues...

Justice Denied

The youths of Telugu Line and Kennedy’s Line in the town have been into this profession for the last several years. “We are not aware of any other profession apart from cleaning. Right from the days of carrying the night soil, we have been undertaking this work and have never shrugged away from our duties,” explains Babu.

Babu is just one among several safai karmacharis, who strive to keep the town clean. “I have been in this profession even before the carrying of night soil was banned. I used to carry the night soil from the BGML colonies. Now that the system has been completely banned, I never thought of changing my profession ever.”

Nothing has changed their grit and determination to continue in their profession. They are not deterred by stigma or the way the society treats them.

Even on behalf of the Government, nothing noteworthy has been implemented for their welfare.

Not an easy task

There are several rehabilitation schemes offered by the Government in the interests of safai karmacharis, but none of them have reached people like Babu.

The safai karmacharis have to bribe several people to seek the benefits of rehabilitation scheme. And even after rehabilitation, they are not in a position to start a new venture on their own. They cannot even easily break themselves from the shackles of their previous occupation.

In Kolar Gold Fields, the initiative taken by the Chairman of National Safai Karmacharis Commission I P D Salappa, helped the system of carrying night soil come to an end, when the chairman took the BGML officials to task.

Even in the Champion Reefs area, the system continued to exist behind the curtains. Again, the Council staff successfully put an end to the practice.

The facilities promised by the Government fail to the real beneficiaries. People like Babu, who discharge duties sincerely never enjoy the privileges of the society. The karmacharis residing in Kennedy’s Line are not even exposed to the idea of organisation or association. They are not even aware of a concept called rehabilitation.

Beneficiaries deprived

While the real beneficiaries are deprived of all these benefits, there are several who have misused the scheme for their selfish interests.

Sample this - in the last CMC session, some grants were released under Dr Ambedkar Development Corporation for the rehabilitation of the safai karmacharis. The CMC was also supposed to include an additional grant of Rs 10,000 to this amount. The matter was discussed elaborately at the meeting and was approved unanimously.

At this point, some of the CMC members handed over a list of 300 safai karmacharis. While, the brokers and some of the associations and organisations handed over the list of thousands of karmacharis.

This was a bolt from the blue to the CMC officials. The actual number of eligible safai karmacharis is not more than 100, while the total list crossed thousand. This was enough to leave the CMC officials speechless.

Under the 22.75 per cent funds, if each safai karmachari was entitled for an amount of Rs 10,000, then the CMC officials had to garner crores of rupees meet this. In all possibilities, the implementation of this scheme is far from reality. But most importantly, before anything else, the system of manual cleansing of toilets should be completely banned. Sucking machines should be utilised in the mining colonies which will pave way for mechanical cleaning.

Amid all this, some biting realities continue to haunt us. Will the safai karmacharis ever be benefitted? Will their conditions ever improve?