‘These Are Not Deaths, These Are Murders’: Journalist Bhasha Singh on Manual Scavenging, Caste Denial, and State Complicity
In a comprehensive interview with Bahujan Lives Matter, senior journalist and author Bhasha Singh unpacks the institutional denial surrounding manual scavenging in India, the systematic erasure of sanitation workers from union budgets, and the deeply entrenched caste framework that forces Dalit communities into fatal sewer work.
Key Takeaways from the Conversation
1. Defining Manual Scavenging vs. Hazardous Cleaning
While the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, and the Supreme Court’s landmark 2014 judgment broadly defined manual cleaning of human excreta as an illegal practice, state authorities continue to shift goalposts. By classifying sewer and septic tank maintenance under the bureaucratic category of “hazardous cleaning,” governments routinely claim that manual scavenging no longer exists.
“Sewers do not have beds of flowers; they contain human waste and toxic methane gas. When people die inhaling that gas, the state refuses to call it manual scavenging. Over 44 deaths occurred in just six months, yet Parliament is told there are no reliable reports.” — Bhasha Singh
2. The Budgetary Erasure of Dalit Sanitation Workers
Singh highlights the stark contradiction between grand space exploration milestones and the absolute neglect of ground sanitation infrastructure. The Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) has faced systemic cuts, and allocations for the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation have dwindled to marginal amounts. Furthermore, targeted scholarships for the children of parents engaged in “unclean occupations” have been dismantled or diluted.
3. Caste Hierarchy Inside Urban Cleaning Systems
Addressing the question of why workers cannot simply abandon this occupation, Singh points to pervasive caste segregation in the informal market. Even when mechanization is introduced—such as municipal garbage trucks—the driver often belongs to one caste group, while the individual handling the refuse belongs to a Dalit sub-caste. Contractualization in municipal corporations has removed health insurance, pensions, and safety liability, leaving young casual laborers vulnerable to contractors who send them into manholes without basic protective apparatus.
4. The Erasure of Evidence: Why Dry Latrines Were Demolished
Recounting her investigative field research and long association with the Safai Karmachari Andolan, Singh recalls how administrative bodies frequently demolished dry latrines without documenting the women who cleaned them. By destroying the structures overnight, local administrations avoided mandatory rehabilitation grants and state compensation packages, leaving workers destitute and officially unacknowledged.
5. Ambedkar vs. Gandhi on Manual Scavenging
Singh concludes by drawing a clear distinction between the reformist and liberationist frameworks of caste annihilation. Whereas M.K. Gandhi romanticized sanitation work within the varna framework, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar advocated for the absolute annihilation of the caste system and total mechanization of sanitary tasks.
Ambedkar stood for total elimination, not spiritual rationalization of slavery. His path in Annihilation of Caste and Riddles in Hinduism is the only roadmap toward dignity and liberation.” — Bhasha Singh