ISSN No. 0974-035X An Indexed, Refereed & Peer Reviewed Journal of Higher Education Towards Excellence UGC- HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT CENTRE, GUJARAT UNIVERSITY, AHMEDABAD, INDIA

MANUAL SCAVENGING AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) Roopal Saraiya

Theme:

CLEAN INDIA (SWACHHA BHARAT)

Sub-theme:

SWACHHA BHARAT MISSION (SBM) AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

ABSTRACT

In India, people from different occupational castes and varnas have gradually diversified into occupations other than those traditional and hereditary ones. Within the caste structure, Dalits who work as manual scavengers are usually from the Hindu Valmiki caste, further divided into sub-castes regionally known as Chuhada, Rokhi, Mehatar, Malkana, Halalkhor, and Lalbegi, or the Muslim Hela sub-caste. Manual scavengers are most the excluded and exploited community among the dalits. Data collected by state agencies and NGOs, there are 7,70,338 manual scavengers and their dependent family members across India.

Here I propose to present the plight of these helpless sections of society vis-a-vis the biggest cleanliness drive ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’, launched by the Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra Modi on 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi 02 October 2014 which aims making India an open defecation free country by 2019. Prime Minister has urged that this should be a nationwide campaign. This paper proposes to suggest an opportunity for understanding CSR mandatory under Companies Act, 2013 in this regard. Indian government has set up the Swachh Bharat Kosh so that various enterprises under the Ministries of Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy donate funds for implementation of CSR. The key strategy under this mission could be abolition of this inhuman practice of manual scavenging. That would be a big contribution of the Corporates in fulfilling the constitutional obligations, that is to provide human

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KEYWORDS:

Swachha Bharat Mission, Human Rights (Equality and fraternity), Social Justice, Manual Scavenging, Safai Karmacharis, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Cleanliness , Dalit

THE PAPER

I would like to begin with a piece of poetry, for I feel it has an urgent and evocative bearing with the topic of my paper : manual scavenging and corporate social responsibility.

My Lord my lord Shamaliyo honored my hundi -- how would we get Gagli’s gavan, the bridal sari otherwise and give her grand send off ? my vow to our clan-deity Chavanda bore fruit and the young high caste garasani died. they draped her corpse with a shroud of red gavan. flames of her pyre are burning crimson red and the red gavan is waving at the akda bush ! Gagli’s mother is smiling bitchy black! let the corpse-bearers and mourners turn their backs and i shall run to the funeral ghat. my lord honored my hundi. the lord of us untouchables.

(Note : As per the local folklore, a poor Nagar Brahmin saint-poet Narsinh Mehta was granted favor by Lord Krishna by honoring his hundi, a kind of promissory note )

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The tragic satire of this pithy poem compels the reader to look into the lives of a section of Indian population called manual scavengers who are made to live a most miserable life. The reader can see how the grinding poverty and stigmatized life can turn a human being into a dehumanized beast: begging both the Lord for a piece of bridal cloth to drape their newly-wed daughter, and to rejoice on the death of a high caste young woman whose dead body is draped with a shroud ! The reader is made to instantly feel his guilt: indictment of dividing the society into low and high and ascribing professions of purity and pollution, of profit to some chosen ones and loss to the condemned others!

INTRODUCTION:

India after its 68 years of our independence, caste system still prevails. On the one side we have reached Mars but on the other side traditional practices continue to prevail. According to the Hindu caste hierarchy, there are four castes namely the Brahmins (priestly caste), the Kshatriya (warriors), the Vaishyas (traders) and the Shudras (menial task workers). Below this four tier caste ladder is another rung, who are called the untouchables (Panchamas). The Caste System is probably the longest surviving hierarchical system in existence in the world today. Its roots can be traced back to the Manusmriti a sacred document of the Hindus. Untouchability was made a legal offence by the Indian Parliament in 1955. Even today, caste based work is followed in India and the ‘Dalit’ communities are not getting a chance to live their life with self-respect and dignity. Therefore, these hapless people remain backward in all the aspects such as education, livelihoods, job opportunities etc.

MANUAL SCAVENGING

Indian society, which itself divides into caste, has inhuman face. A face, in which certain communities are imposed with work designated according to caste, and among them ‘manual scavenging’, is worst. The scavenger community in India is highly heterogeneous subsumed under layers of sub caste domination within schedule caste themselves. The scavenging castes which were known by different names in different States like Bhangi, Balmiki, Chuhra, Mehtar, Mazhabi, Lal Begi, Halalkhor etc. in northern India; Har, Hadi, Hela, Dom and Sanei etc. in eastern India; Mukhiyar, Thoti, Chachati, Pakay, Relli etc. in Southern India; and Mehtar, Bhangias, Halalkhor, Ghasi, Olgana, Zadmalli, Barvashia, Metariya, Jamphoda and Mela etc. in Western and Central India, also made an effort to get united and have a common name. In 1911 census some of them started returning as Adi Dharmi, Adi Dravida, Adi Karnataka and Adi Andhra.

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This practice of ‘manual scavenging’ is therefore the worst surviving symbol of caste untouchability in India. It drives people into this degrading daily work only because of their birth in particular castes. They are designated with a variety of nomenclatures such as untouchables, harijans, depressed classes, dalits, servileclasses, weaker sections, panchamas, atisudras, avarnas and antyajas and Scheduled Castes. The word ‘Dalits’ denotes poverty and their oppressed conditions. Manual Scavenging is a ‘form of work’; the society has coined many disgraceful words to describe a Manual Scavenger (in India) such as -“Bhangi”, “valmiki” “harijan” and “chamar”. It is significant that 99 per cent of the people forced to do this work are Dalit. And the majority of them are women (95%). Manual Scavengers also face social, political and economic discrimination. They are not allowed to enter places of worship or access basic services.

The issue of manual scavenging was raised by none other than Mr.M.K.Gandhi himself as early as 1901 and Dr. B. R. Ambedkar too. He termed it inhuman while raising voice against it. Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia debated on the same issue in Parliament on 05th July 1967.

Along with the violation of human rights (Equality and fraternity), scavengers are also bound to work in hazardous working conditions. Those working in these spaces, especially women are in grave danger of contracting countless diseases on a daily basis as they come in close contact with human waste. Some of these diseases are Tuberculosis, campylobacter infection, cryptosporidiosis, giardiasis, hand foot and mouth diseases, hepatitis A, meningitis (viral), rotavirus infection, salmonella infection, shigella infection, thrush, viral gastroenteritis, worms and yersiniosis. It is further noted that 90% of all manual scavengers have not been provided proper equipment to protect them from faces borne illness’, as pointed in a 2007 Report on Safety conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS).

DEFINITION OF MANUAL SCAVENGER

The term ‘manual scavenger' has been defined under section 2(j) of the Act, 1993. According to it, a “manual scavenger” means a person who is engaged in or employed for carrying human excreta, and the expression “manual scavenging” shall, it reads, be construed accordingly. This is very narrow definition, and, as pointed out by the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis report of 2000, it must be expanded to include reference to those who handle material like garbage, sewage etc, or engage in any other similar work which is considered obnoxious or derogatory to human dignity.

LEGISLATION PROTECTION FOR MANUAL SCAVENGER

Manual scavenging is considered as an illegal practice because it violates basic Human Rights Enshrined in Indian Constitution such as:

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• Article 14 : Equality before Law

• Article 16 (2) : No citizen shall, on the ground of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the state.

• Article 17 : “Untouchability” is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability rising out of “Untouchability” shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.

• Article 19 (i) (g): All the citizen of India shall have the right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.

• Article 21 : Protection of life and personal liberty.

• Article 23 : Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour.

There are certain laws enacted by the parliament under article- 17, 46 of Indian Constitution like:

• The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

• Bonded Labor System (abolition) Act, 1976.

Section 7(a) of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, which focus on the abolition bonded labor, manual scavenging and disposing animal carcasses. If any person caught doing certain illegal practices then he will be punishable with 3 to 6 months of imprisonment or fine up to Rs 500.

• Employments of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993.

• The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. (Manual Scavenger Act, 2013).

The Government of India set up the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis in 1994 whose main objective was to study, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the programmes and schemes relating to the social and economic rehabilitation of safai karamcharis and make

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On this count the government has never been able to meet the deadlines to eradicate the practice of manual scavenging. Manual scavenging still continues to exist rampantly and data reveals its prevalence at a large scale across regions and states. Over the years there are a number of schemes the Government of India at the National and state levels have introduced.

Scavengers and their dependents The objective of the scheme is to liberate scavengers and their dependents from their existing hereditary and obnoxious occupation of manually removing night soil and filth and to provide for and engage them in alternative and dignified occupations within a period of five years.

MANUAL SCAVENGING IN INDIA

According to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (SJ&E), Govt.of India, the total population of manual scavengers in 1992 were 5,88,000. In the year 2002, a total of 7, 87,000 were engaged in scavenging. In 2002-03 the same ministry quoted the number as 6,76,009. Of these, over 95% are Dalits (persons belonging to the scheduled castes), who are compelled to undertake this denigrating task under the garb of “traditional occupation”. Data collected by state agencies and NGOs today, there are 7,70,338 manual scavengers and their dependent family members across India.

Table-1 : State-wise population of Scavengers

State Population

Andhra Pradesh 30921

Assam 40413

Bihar 12226

Delhi 17420

Gujarat 64195

Haryana 36362

Himachal Pradesh 4757

Jammu Kashmir 4150

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According to Karnataka 14555 the census data there still are 7,94,390 dry latrines in the country where the human Kerala 1339 excreta is cleaned up by humans. Apart Madhya Pradesh 80072 from these there are 13,14,652 toilets where the human excreta is flushed in Maharashtra 64785 open drains. The census also adds that there are 4,97,236 toilets in the country Meghalaya 607 where the human excreta is cleaned up Nagaland 1800 by animals through eating it. This is however a very confusing statement as Orissa 35049 we believes that in toilets like these it is not possible that the human excreta is Pondicherry 476 cleaned up completely through animals eating Punjab 531 it. Ultimately it has to be cleaned up by humans only. Thus there are more than 26 Rajasthan 57736 lakhs [2.6 million] dry latrines in the country where the practice of manual scavenging Tamil Nadu 35561 still continues. 149202

Presently, West Bengal 23852 Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra Modi launched the biggest cleanliness Total 676009 drive ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ on 02 October 2014 at Rajpath in New which aims making India an open defecation free country by 2019. Prime Minister has urged that this should be a nationwide campaign. Under this drive each school and college, a team of students may be formed which will be called the ‘Swachhata Senani’, to spread awareness about sanitation and cleanliness.

It can be seen from the above the government trying to fulfill its constitutional obligations. Living in its ivory tower and engrossed only in its holy books of profit and loss, the Corporate may not easily come across such literatures and the stark realities of unprivileged lives expressed therein. In its mad run to become bigger and bigger, from being national to multi- national, from aspiring to lord over a company to over-lording a country or the entire planet, the Corporate at last has to confront a reality: that the consumers whom it wants to ultimately lord over are living human beings and not the robotic machines and unless they are treated as such, i.e. a living entity with human rights and human dignity, they will ultimately end up lording over robotistan!

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Perhaps, that is why the UNO concerned with the wellbeing of humankind came out with the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility in 2000. The initiative is derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, and the United Nations Convention Against Corruption. To make this happen, the UN Global Compact supports companies to : Do business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations with ten principles of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption and take strategic actions to advance broader societal goals such as the forthcoming UN Sustainable Development Goals, with an emphasis on collaboration and innovation.

The Indian government followed the suit : In August 2013, the Indian Parliament passed the Indian Companies Act, 2013 (the “New Act”), which has replaced the Companies Act of 1956. The New Act has made far-reaching changes.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

One of the New Act’s most startling changes—which came into effect on April 1, 2014—has been to impose compulsory corporate social responsibility obligations ("CSR") upon Indian companies and foreign companies operating in India. These obligations mainly come in the form of mandatory amounts companies must contribute to remediating social problems. This is a wholly new requirement; although companies were permitted, within certain limits, to make charitable contributions in the past, the New Act is essentially a self-administered tax.

Entities covered by the CSR obligations

Companies are subject to the CSR requirements if they have, for any financial year: a) a net worth of at least Rs. 5 billion (approximately U.S.$80 million); b) a turnover of at least Rs. 10 billion (approximately U.S.$160 million); or

C) net profits of at least Rs. 50 million (approximately U.S. [$800,000).

Required Amount of CSR Spending

An entity or business that meets these specified thresholds must spend on CSR activities no less than two percent of its average net profit for its preceding three financial years. Net profit means a company’s profits as per its profit and loss account prepared in accordance with the New Act, but excludes profits from a company’s operations outside India or dividends received

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Permitted CSR Activities

There is a long list of permissible areas for CSR funding. They include such purposes as ending hunger and poverty; promoting public health; supporting education; addressing gender inequality; protecting the environment; and funding cultural initiatives and the arts.

All CSR funds must be spent in India. The New Act encourages companies to spend their CSR funds in the areas where they operate, but money cannot be spent on activities undertaken that are part of the normal course of the company’s business or on projects for the exclusive benefit of employees or their family members.

Contributions of any amount to a political party are not a permitted CSR activity. However, the New Act has an exception allowing companies to use their CSR funds to support development projects initiated by the prime minister or central government. It is important to note, as discussed further below, that such projects in India have had a troubling tendency to become vehicles for political patronage, and they can raise legal issues in other jurisdictions if they come to be seen as political payoffs.

Failure to Comply

If the minimum CSR amount is not spent, the board is required to disclose this fact, with reasons therefore, in its annual Director’s Report to the shareholders.

It is still not clear whether failure to comply is an legal offense of any sort. Thus, the new Act may be the advent of a new regime in Indian corporation law of the concept of “comply or explain.” What is clear, however, is that failure to explain non-compliance is a punishable offence under the New Act. It is therefore likely that any company that fails to comply with its CSR obligations will be subject to investigation by the Indian authorities.

Implications for Indian Subsidiaries of Foreign Corporations

It is typical in India for social welfare projects to be administered through private non- governmental organizations (“NGOs”). This has led to a proliferation of such groups; by one estimate, there are two million NGOs in India, or one for every 600 people. Although most NGOs are reputable and well-meaning, there have been many instances of fraud and abuse. Indian NGOs often are informally organized, unaudited, and operate with little governance.

According to The Companies Act 2013 company having net worth of rupees five hundred crore or more, or turnover of rupees one thousand crore or more or a net profit of rupees five crore or more during any financial year shall constitute a Corporate Social Responsibility

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Committee and that companies contribute at least 2 percent of their average net profits from the preceding three years to CSR .

The Government has set up the Swachh Bharat Kosh (SBK) so that big and small corporations provide help to the mission by donating funds in the form of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and also to attract funds from individual volunteers. It is heartening to see that many private and public companies have supported the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and have already started implementing it. Some leading organizations that have supported and contributed to this great cleanliness drive are as below.

ONGC

As a part of their CSR, the ONGC has promised to construct toilets in 2500 Government schools in 26 districts spread over 13 States, along with other initiatives, during the current financial year.

The ONGC has allocated Rs 100 crore for this programme, which has been named as Swachh Vidyalaya Abhiyan by ONGC officials. It has already been launched in two schools in Ganjam, eight schools in Gajapati districts of Odisha and in 10 schools near ONGC work centres in , Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Tripura. The organisation has also come up with slogan writing, press conference, walkathons, etc. to create public awareness on cleanliness and work towards improvement of overall health and environment. The ONGC has already signed an MoU with the Archaeological Survey of India and the Ministry of Tourism for conservation and cleanliness of Taj Mahal, the historical monument of India, at a cost of 20.75 crore.

Public Sector Undertakings ( PSUs)

The Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under the Ministries of Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, have announced the construction of 50,000 toilets in schools by 2015 next year August; the work on 1001 toilets has already started. These PSUs have also earmarked 50% of the CSR for the construction of these toilets during the financial years 2014-15 and 2015-16. The major PSUs involved in this programme and the States they are covering with the number of toilets to build in schools are given below:

Table – 2 : List of PSUs involved in Swachh Bharat Mission

Number of Toilets to be constructed in the Sr. No. Name of PSU States Schools

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Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, MP, Odisha, Rajasthan,UP, &West 1 NTPC Bengal 240

2 Power Finance Corporation (PFC) Rajasthan 72

3 SJVN Limited Himachal Pradesh 21

AP, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, MP, Odisha, 4 POWERGRID & Telegana 90

Assam, WB, J&K, HP, National Hydroelectric Power Uttrakhand, Arunachal 5 Corporation (NHPC ) Pradesh, Manipur & WB. 56

Rural Electrification Corporation 6 Limited (REC) UP 90

Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd 7 (NLC) Tamil Nadu, 25

8 THDC India Limited ( THDCIL) Uttrakhand 05

Indian Renewable Energy 9 Development Agency (IREDA) Chhattisgarh 04

North Eastern Electric Power 10 Corporation (NEEPCO) Assam 06

Jharkhand, WB, Odisha, MP, Chhattisgarh, UP, & 11 Coal India Limited ( CIL) Assam 400

L&T

As a part of its CSR, infrastructure conglomerate Larsen & Toubro announced that it will build 5000 toilets in various parts of the country under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. L&T said the company along with L&T Public Charitable Trust will construct 2,000 toilets in the first

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Dabur

Dabur has joined in the campaign by launching Swachh Toilet, in which the company will provide germ-free public toilets across the country. It has also announced that it will contribute one Sani Fresh Toilet Cleaner from the sale of every pack of this cleaner, to maintain clean toilets in the country.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has also actively participated in Clean India campaign and has promised to provide sanitation facilities in schools. It has promised to mobilise construction of 10,000 toilets by 2015-16 through its CSR.

Gail

Gail has announced that as a part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the organisation will construct 1,021 toilets across India, with separate toilet facilities for girls in schools, which in turn will help in reducing dropouts and help in increasing female literacy. It has announced a Rs 27 crore bio-toilet programme. The PSU is committed to improve sanitation facilities for girls at schools. Construction of toilets has already started in four districts: Jhabua (310) in Madhya Pradesh, Khurda (243 toilets) , Nayagarh (132) in Odisha, and East Godavari (336) in Andhra Pradesh .

Bharti Foundation

Rs 100 crore has been allocated by Bharti Foundation to build toilets in Ludhiana.

Tata Consultancy Services

TCS has also promised to contribute Rs 100 crore for constructing toilets and providing sanitation facilities for girls in 10,000 schools.

Vedanta

Vedanta group pledged that it will build 10,000 toilets more. It has already been involved in building 30,000 toilets in a partnership with Rajasthan Government.

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Corporation Bank, Mangalore

The bank has launched Swachh Vidyalaya Scheme in which 100 toilets will be constructed across the country in the schools which do not have toilet facilities. The bank will be constructing five toilets in the schools in Udupi region of the bank.

Hotels and Real Estate Developers

Prominent hotels like Radisson and Park Inn, run by Global hotel chain Carlson Rezidor will build toilets in the Delhi-NCR area for girls in schools. Employees of Lemon Tree Hotels also pledged that they will invest 100 hours a year to clean areas around their premises in the country. Unitech, a prominent real estate developer plans to take residents’ and other stakeholders’ active participation in a drive to clean up areas around the projects it has launched across the country. Ajay Chandra, managing director at Unitech, said that a mass movement is required to make the mission a success and it is not only about spending money but also about incorporating a civic sense among the people.

DLF Promenade

DLF Promenade has posted in their Facebook official page, “Dear literate Indian, stop littering India. Use dustbins, join the Clean India Campaign.” The group has also announced that it will tie up with some schools and get in students to spread awareness and also influence the customers’ mind when they come to the malls.

CONCLUSION

Manual scavengers predominantly belong to ex-Untouchable castes and therefore they are subjected to additional discrimination and social exclusion based on untouchability. Abolition of untouchability is a Constitutional mandate. Therefore, the onus of eradicating manual scavenging should rest on the state, on the central and state governments equally. Despite the special laws, instructional mechanisms and inclusive policies meant for manual scavengers, they continue to be compelled by circumstances to perform dehumanizing and degrading work. In the twenty-first century, this is a matter of shame to the much-touted ‘shining India'.

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Dry latrines, which are cleaned by manual scavengers, still exist in public establishments and private houses in many parts of India, defying the mandatory provisions of law and morality. There are inherent lacunae in legislation, which need to be amended to fulfill the Constitutional, democratic and human rights deficits faced by manual scavengers. While the schemes and policies of the State have had some impact, they have failed to liberate and rehabilitate all the manual scavengers. For this, the approach and behavior of all concerned stake-holders, especially agencies of the state and the dominant castes/classes have to change in order to serve Constitutional and human rights values.

To augment the above efforts, Corporates must shoulder some responsibility under CSR. Companies engaged in the business of Research and Development, in producing sanitary ware, health and hygiene equipments, NGOs like Sulabh International and Educational institutes like Safai Vidyalay , Gujarat Vidyapith can be of great help in partnering delivery of this CSR. New technological applications and modern infra-structures can relieve the manual scavengers from their hazardous drudgery and regain them human dignity with human rights like equality and fraternity. For example, the toilet blocks built and run by Sulabh international. Now how are jokingly called ‘Mayor’s bungalow’ in dalit bastis, because they look like spick-n-span corporate offices and the sanitary workers as executives.

It is observed that science and technology are primarily and principally engaged in catering to industrial and commercial needs. They rarely come to the rescue of the toiling dalit masses. But under CSR, Corporates can usher in a new social revolution with the help of science and technology applications. Dr D Dinakaran elaborates :

Firstly manual scavenging is to be replaced by a proper method like water jet technology. In industrial areas, the nature of the waste is totally different from domestic waste. Handling of wastes of plastics, timber and metal needs different devices/ machines. The device or a machine is to be developed to dispose these types of wastes with reference to volume and the nature of the waste. Mass disposal of wastes from hotels, restaurants, shops, trading centers and marriage halls are to be handled in huge volumes and need different mechanized system. Hospital wastes must be treated as ‘unsafe’ and specific technology is to be developed to handle those wastes.

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Cleaning the toilets, urinary basins and wash basins are the works usually assigned to dalit sanitary workers. Even in houses, many people do not clean their own toilets. This cleaning process is to be mechanized or semi mechanized to reduce the manual intervention. Robots are now effectively used to process complex profiles with advanced manipulators. Lifting and firing of dead bodies in majority of the places are carried out by dalits. To bulldoze this caste based activity, a vehicle for carrying dead bodies is to be provided to every region like 108 ambulance service, to cut off dalits from this work. Electric cremation facilities should be established to all burial and cremation centers. ‘

Technology development can play a vital role to prevent dalits from fatal diseases and discrimination by caste system. This new technology implementation will attract other communities also in to this work and it will bring impartiality among the communities at least in this track. The sincere implementation of CSR can thus help transform India into a modern nation with its constitutional ideals of equality and fraternity fulfilled.

At the close, let me revisit the poetic justice scene I began with: the helpless dalit couple begging before the Lord! A blogger has come out with a self-help calculation that India has 1, 16,000 registered temples and many more unregistered ones. On average, a dalit donates Rs 500 per year to the these temple deities which aggregates to huge Rs. 2000 crores. If the amount is collected into an educational corpus, it would suffice to pay for the fees for 2, 00,000 dalit engineers, doctors, professionals! No manual scavenger will need to enter into the deadly man- hole or carry night-soil on their head.

QUOTED/REFERRED MATERIAL SOURCED FROM :

• B. N. Srivastava (editor). (1997). Manual Scavenging in India: A Disgrace to the Country. Concept Publishing Company • From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swachh_Bharat_Abhiyan) • Government of India, National Commission for Safai Karamchari, New Delhi • Government of India, National Human Rights Commission. (2011, March). Human Rights and Manual Scavenging. New Delhi. • Patel, Neerav . Bahishkrut Phoolo tr as ‘Severed Tongue Speaks Out’, Gujarat Dalit Sahitya Akademi, 2006.

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• Rumani Saikia, Phukan. October 10, 2014. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Corporates and CSR Play a Decisive Role. (http://www.mapsofindia.com/my-india/society/swachh-bharat- abhiyan-corporates-and-csr-play-a-decisive-role) • Saikia Phukan, R. (Ed.). (n.d.). Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: Corporates and CSR Play a Decisive Role. • Sharma, S. (n.d.). STATUS OF MANUAL SCAVENGER IN INDIA: A CRITICAL STUDY. • "Swachh Bharat campaign should become mass movement: Narendra Modi". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2 October 2014. • 13 lakh Dalits still engaged in manual scavenging: Thorat. The New Indian Express . 2013. • 13 lakh Dalits still engaged in manual scavenging: Thorat. The New Indian Express. [ONLINE] Available at: http://newindianexpress.com

LIST OF TABLES

Table-1 : State-wise population of Scavengers…………………………………………………..07

Table-2 : List of PSUs involved in Swachh Bharat Mission……………………………...12

Roopal Saraiya 4, Hemang Parrk, B/h Boot Bhavani Temple, Vejalpur, Ahmedabad 380051 7874667468 [email protected]

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