Abstract: The fundamental horror of manual scavenging lies in its hereditary nature, predetermined by caste at birth. The dual experiences of cultural conceptualization and societal exploitation converge to oppress the lowest caste, the Dalits, as the social ecology associates garbage and filth as inherent companions of this community. The perplexing inquiry arising in the mind of an outsider to the social fabric of India pertains to the underlying force sustaining such a system of subjugation. It is succinctly violent, particularly the relentless "unparalleled social abuse of untouchability." This paper employs the concept of violence as a manifestation of "structural violence" coined by Johan Galtung. This paper argues that the persistence of manual scavenging within Dalit communities stems from the indifference and "politics of trash" in a casteist society.
Tamanna Priya (Sat,) studied this question.