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| Photo Courtesy: Google Images |
The man who collects garbage from your house
every day…he is born in to a poor family, has never attended school, is not a
skilled labourer, is married to a woman who belongs to a family just like his,
has five to six children (who might end up like him), and has a job where he
has to touch the dirtiest bits. Ever
thought of this?
Well, he also has to deal with rude residents
who don’t even care to separate wet and dry garbage. An episode on popular TV
show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ on waste management showed garbage collectors narrating
their tales of how they hurt themselves while sorting the garbage, because of
glass pieces carelessly dumped.
The plight of these garbage collectors is
reiterated by an example of a man who collects garbage from our locality. He is
well above 60 years of age and was affected by leprosy. With deformed hands, he
has no option of any other livelihood. He has a large family and is forced to
earn his living and fill their stomachs through this job. The monthly income of
garbage collectors is only a few hundreds, and worse is when many residents
refuse to pay the meagre amount of Rs 50 per month. Treated as untouchables,
garbage collectors do not choose their job, but are forced because of their
caste. This is so, because in India, many jobs are reserved for certain castes,
for example, manual scavengers come from a certain so-called lower caste. Many
of us have individuals, as young as 20 years old, collecting garbage from our
houses. The scene of children collecting garbage from houses is worth a
thought. Many of them are migrant labourers, who leave their families and
villages, in the hope of getting a better job in metropolitan cities. Their
hopes are dashed when they earn such a minimal amount, of which half the amount
goes to their families. Their large families, back in the villages, cannot
suffice their needs with such a paltry sum. And this leads to more poverty on
both sides.
The sight of the garbage collectors having a
lady boss, in our locality, makes me scoff at the fact that she controls them
with full authority, takes away 3/4th of the amount they get, does
not ensure they are regular in their job, and reassures residents who complain
against their irregularity.
The fact that these people are human beings just
like us should make us realise that we are violating their human rights. Their
basic right to a dignified living is violated from time to time. With no safety
clothing, they are forced to stand in the middle of heaps of stenching garbage. We should realise that there are a lot of
factors which play in to a garbage collector becoming one. Strong laws should be brought in to effect to
protect their human rights, provide them with social security, regular income
and fulfil their basic needs. They seem to be a voiceless community and are
unaware of their rights. But the government should realise they too are a part
of India’s citizenry. And as members of civil society, we can at least stop
treating them as outcasts, give them their money on time, and empathize with
them.
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