In Bundelkhand, 'Dirty Work' Is Done Only by the Lower Caste

In 2016, in Ahmedabad, the Human Development and Research Centre (formerly Behavioural Science Centre) advertised a job for the position of a sanitation worker in their offices. Based on earlier experiences, wherein they had received applications only from people belonging to the Valmiki caste, the progressive firm decided to add a line about their preference for applicants from upper castes. It wasn’t too long before the director of the organisation, Prasad Chacko, was forced into hiding – such was the impact of the backlash he received.

In 2018, in Bundelkhand, Uttar Pradesh, the sentiments behind this story thrive in peculiar ways – as caste-hierarchy beliefs that drill deep into our very souls and serve as a link between dirty jobs and “unclean” communities. From cattle-skinning to manual scavenging to basic cleaning, the caste of those engaged in these livelihoods comes as no surprise, and in the hinterland, this has crystallised into a very specific practice of discrimination.

If you check the records for government-employed sanitation workers, chances are, you’ll find a list of names reflecting their OBC and general caste-affiliations – the Kushwahas and Prajapatis and Guptas. But if you ask for last names of those who actually wield the jhadu and the pan, these would invariably be those belonging to the Valmiki, Chamar and Adivasi communities. In Chitrakoot district’s Ramnagar block, we looked at the three villages of Atarsui, Chheeb, and Basingha as a sample, and found that upper caste members are pocketing the Rs 22,000-a-month salary, and outsourcing the dirty jobs to lower caste workers, paying them paltry sums of Rs 200 to 300 as daily wages on an ad hoc basis. It is a scam of the worst kind, riding on caste discrimination.

Mukesh, a resident of Basingha village, tells us about the times he’s been called in for school emergencies, “If a dog comes and defaecates all around the school premises, then they call me that day. Generally, I’m given Rs 200 for it.” When we prod him, asking why he’s called by the appointed sanitation worker, he simply shrugs, “I don’t know why. He gives me money, I take it.” Kamlesh Prasad, the headmaster at the school condemns this for the sake of the interview, at least, “It is wrong, indeed. Whoever has been appointed on paper should be the one actually doing the cleaning.”

But it is Triveni Prasad’s response that is telling. As pradhan of Basingha, he speaks of the assigned cleaner: “Yes, he’s a Prajapati. Yes, he gets someone else to clean on his behalf, a Mehtar, I think.” When we ask him about the discrimination inherent in this, he only has a matter-of-fact response, “It’s been working out fine thus far. Ab safaai se matlab hai, chaahe jisse bhi karvaaye ya kare. (We only care about cleanliness, either he does it himself, or gets someone else to). What difference does that make?” Shailendra Kumar, the headman’s representative at Chheebon village nods and tells us he’s heard of this practice, making it sound like it’s a distant problem. He offers advice as though it might not have occurred to us, “Jaankaari praapt ki ja sakti hai (You can get the information) by checking the names on the list.”

It is indeed the inability to even recognise this discrimination that sees this practice thriving so.

Meanwhile, the Clean India deadline looms large – even the extended one – and several of the on-paper sanitation workers work as drivers and assistants, in reality, not bothering to turn up for duties that do not suit their caste-preferences. But while Ram Lal Mishra, ADO, Chitrakoot, adds how people should be more responsible – a platitude if there ever was one – Virendra Yadav at Basingha enlists the problems being caused by lack of hygiene – they’ve been AWOL for over six months, we learn. “There’s dirt and filth everywhere, mosquitoes are breeding, diseases are spreading…” And fellow Basingha dweller Durg Vijay Singh is enraged at the filth in his village, “I am an illiterate man, I don’t know whose responsibility it is. But we live in such disgusting conditions.”

Shakti Singh, who is the spokesman for Mau-Manikpur’s BJP MLA R.K. Patel, told us, “Someone’s working as a driver, or a guard. And we’ve ensured that they’ve gone back to their appointed jobs.” If we can point out those who don’t report for work," Singh adds, "he’ll ensure they’re dealt with strictly," using every Bundeli officer’s favourite term – “sakht karavahi.”

When asked about the problem of sanitation workers turning into cooks overnight, Ganga Ram, pradhan of Atarsui village says, “I think there should be a proper examination of this.”

This Khabar Lahariya story first appeared on Firstpost.

Khabar Lahariya is a rural, video-first digital news organisation with an all-women network of reporters in eight districts of Uttar Pradesh.

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