Half of India's manual scavengers in Uttar Pradesh: Survey
Ahmedabad, June 27 : Uttar Pradesh has more than half the country's manual scavengers, an inhuman practice carried on for centuries, according to the latest survey published by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
According to the manual scavengers survey 2018 report, released in June, the largest populated state in the country has 28,796 manual scavengers of the total 53,236 manual scavengers registered through the registration camps held for the survey.
However, these figures are only from 12 states, out of the 18 where the survey is being conducted. The figures of the rest six states are being sought.
Moreover, these figures obtained for the first phase of the survey are only from 121 select districts out of the 600 districts in the country. The survey found Madhya Pradesh with 8,016 registered manual scavengers and Rajasthan with 6,643.
The survey states that Gujarat has only 146 registered scavengers, a much smaller number given that far denigrated figure, where even the deaths of manhole workers are far higher. Men entering sewerage pipelines have to manually clean the clogging of sewer lines, a work equally inhumane as manual scavenging.
The survey was presented at a three-day national seminar with the theme 'Sociology of Sanitation' inspired by Sulabh International Social Services Organisation, a NGO working for upliftment of manual scavengers and the underprivileged classes, led by Padmashree awardee Bindeshwar Pathak.
Sulab has pioneered revolutionary work of setting up public toilets across the country and eradicating the inhumane practice of manually removing human excreta.
"Time will bring that change which is needed in the mindset of the people. The problem of human waste removal was a dire one and the solution lay in Mahatma Gandhi's thoughts, which was construction of infrastructure through raw materials obtained within five kilometre radius of the construction. We came out with the novel and unique idea of two-pit latrines, which abolished the need for manual removal," said Pathak, founder of Sulab International.
"There is no other better technology than this method and now even other countries are replicating it. The most advanced countries like the US have also showed interest in replicating the two-pit latrines in their country,"
Pathak was speaking at the seminar jointly organised by the M.K. University, Bhavnagar, the Gujarat University, Ahmedabad, and Sulabh International.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
