The erstwhile untouchable castes are still the mainstay of sanitation labour in South Asia. The sanitation sector has largely remained manual without mechanisation. This article focusses on the continuance of manual scavenging (use of bare hands to clean human excreta) and sweeping without appropriate technological aids in the unique context of South Asia. Drawing from fieldwork conducted in Mumbai city (June–October 2021) that included conversations with 15 sanitation workers, the article highlights several following issues. First, the denial of basic labour rights to sanitation labourers is the result of the outsourcing by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to private agencies, which employ them on a contractual and informal basis. Second, there is a significant transition and change in the life of labourers from the Buddhist (earlier called Mahar) castes of Maharashtra as compared to their native villages. The functioning of caste in modern-day Mumbai has become more indirect and subtle, but the link between caste and sanitation labour is far from broken. Third, sanitation workers both oppose and claim their labour and occupation. This reflects in their fight and struggle against the corrupt practices of contractors and officers and simultaneously in their claim for becoming permanent workers in order to access better wages, working conditions, and facilities.
Devesh Khatarker (Thu,) studied this question.