Bangalore: Manual scavenging is still
practised in parts of Karnataka with the condition of these
social groups continuing to be "pathetic and inhuman," a
research study on the lives and problems of safai karmacharis
has revealed.
Manual scavenging has not been totally eradicated and those
engaged in it are yet to be fully rehabilitated, the study
found.
Titled "Mirage of social mobility: the case of Safai
Karmarcharis in Karnataka," the study was conducted by Dr K G
Gayathridevi of the Centre for Ecological Economics and
Natural Resources of Institute for Social and Economic Change
(ISEC), Bangalore.
The study was conducted from a sociological perspective
focusing on understanding the intricate social relationship
and socio-economic mobility among the scavenging social
groups, Gayathridevi said.
Field studies conducted in two fast-growing urban centres,
Gulbarga and Tumkur, revealed that the heinous system is
thrust upon poor and migrant Scheduled Caste families, the
study said.
While in North India the Bhangi community are the safai
karmacharis by caste and profession, in Karnataka the Mehtars
and the Mangarodis are employed as manual scavengers, the
study said.
Most of the safai karmacharis are women but a majority of
them lend their services on behalf of the menfolk, the study
revealed.
"Thus, these women workers are marginalised and deprived of
benefits reaching them directly," Gayathridevi said.
PTI
