Abstract

Manual scavenging for long has been considered as degrading and defiling job which has
been affiliated with Dalits. In this article, an attempt has been made t o trace 0ut the brief
history of the practice of manual scavenging in India. The auth 0r has also dwelt up0n the
constitutional c0mmitment as well as measures taken up by the successive governments to
impr0ve the conditions of this class of people.

History of manual scavengers

One of the fundamental questions that arise is how and why lower caste people indulged in
this disgusting job. Nobody wants to clean the shit of other person. So, why these sickening
and disgusting jobs were created. The answers to these questions lie in the historical practice
that took place during medieval period. In the earlier times the toilets were not provided with
flush. So, human excreta had to be carried in buckets. Also after the advent of Muslims, the
system of sweeping and scavenging proliferated as system of bucket privies was brought in
for the Muslim ladies in pardah. Bucket privies were a bucket latrine where a user would
defecate into a bucket and then that bucket is supposed to be removed by bhangis. This
practice carried on till the British period. During that period many army cantonments were
coming up and people were required for this specific defiling task. Britishers continued on
this egregious tradition and dalits were appointed. On the other hand dalits who were not
accepted in the society, had no choice but to succumb to manual scavenging which provided
them just enough to sustain a day of their degraded life.

In earlier literature there is no mention of the term manual scavenging and caste Bhangi.
It is the Brahmins who defined the job and functions that were to be performed by each caste.
Since they were at the highest of caste hierarchy they took the most desirable occupations and
filthiest and undesirable were provided to dalits. That included cleaning and sweeping of
streets, drains and sewers; removal of animal and human excreta and raising of stray pigs.
By looking at the names of the castes which does manual scavenging it can be conspicuously
gauged that it comprised people from different social and racial groups. It is clear that people
from lower castes were forced to join in as they were not accepted anywhere. So, it was their
last resort to earn their livelihood. Moreover people from higher castes that were rebels,
renegades, outcasts and destitute also formed the part of this group. They were forced to join
by economic compulsions as the higher castes people considered this to be defiling and
derogatory vocation. So, only during the economic hardship (higher caste) people would have
turned up for this vocation.

It is surprising to know that those who do not form a part of caste system have a caste system
of their own. It is termed as endogamous sub-section of lowest of all low-castes. In this
system lowest place is acquired by those who are indulged in carrying night-soil. Here night-
soil is euphemism for dry latrines. People who work in households consider them above those
who carry night-soil. Those at the highest have completely left the job of manual scavenging
and made an effort to sankritsize by incorporating jobs such as farming, weaving etc. Thus,
so called Exterior castes who are not recognised by other castes and are termed as impure
has their own caste system hierarchy.

Historically, the caste system entailed a life of degradation for Dalits. For instance, Dalits
undertook occupations that the rest of Indian society found ritually polluting, such as
handling carcasses, disposing of human waste (also known as the practice of manual
scavenging), sweeping streets, or cobbling (considered degrading because of its association
with feet and leather). Dalits also received ill treatment from members of higher castes,
particularly from Brahmins. For example, Brahmins would have to bathe if a Dalits shadow
fell on them, would not eat food prepared by Dalits, and would not drink from the same wells
as Dalits. Dalit women often were forced to serve as sexual servants to upper caste men. If
Dalits attempted to defy the caste system, they received cruel punishments such as being
forced to parade naked through village streets, and being beaten, raped, tortured, hanged, and
burned.