MUMBAI (19th Nov, 2019): World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19th of November every year to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.
According to details, Sudharak Olwe has been observing the lives of Indian sanitation workers for about two decades. The work is reportedly reserved for scheduled castes, officially designated groups of historically disadvantaged communities that live on the fringes of society and their lives remain unchanged despite India’s overall technological, economic and social advancements.
Olwe’s recent photographs on the lives of Indian sanitation workers, commissioned by WaterAid, are shown as part of United Nations (UN) World Toilet Day on 19th of November, 2019.
Manual scavengers from the Valmiki community remove excrement by hand from dry toilets in Madhya Pradesh.
One of the sanitation worker, Betibai Valmiki said, “We people are not allowed to drink tea or even water in any restaurant.”
This 42 years old, Mukeshdevi, pictured with her husband, mother in-law, five children and two grandchildren, in Uttar Pradesh, earns olnly 2,000 rupees (£20) a month.
She said, ‘We do not have other option, even if we open a shop, no-one would buy things from us because we are Valmikis.”
In 1992, Santosh nearly drowned cleaning a septic tank with colleagues, one of whom died. Despite his eyes being permanently damaged, he has never received any compensation from the Government. He works in Amanganj with his wife and two sons.
This family work every day from 05:00 to 13:00 for 7,000 Indian rupees a month.
“It’s such a thankless job, we are treated so badly.” Geeta says.
The Dom community on the outskirts of Bihar, lost 10 houses and most of their cattle in a fire in April, 2018 but sadly they received no help or compensation.
Meenadevi started working as a manual scavenger almost 25 years ago with her mother-in-law. She reportedly carries excrement from a Muslim neighbourhood in Rohtas.
“Initially, I wasn’t ready and felt ashamed to work but now I’m used to the foul smells, Poverty always leaves you with no option.” She said.
She said, “My mother-in-law passed away because of the same job. She used to carry the sewage in tin cans but we don’t use tin cans. However, the same fate awaits me.”
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