Damned and Disposable: Manual Scavengers in Contemporary India

The practice of manual scavenging continues to persist in contemporary India, highlighting the societal failure to address caste-based occupational hierarchies, associated discrimination and human rights violations. Despite legislative interventions and the active efforts of NGOs to eliminate this practice, significant progress remains elusive. In many cases, the work persists under the guise of sanitation, often carried out without adequate protective gear. Systemic denial by authorities and definitional ambiguities have further entrenched this inhumane practice. The lives of manual scavengers exemplify a multi-dimensional form of deprivation, extending beyond economic vulnerability to profound social marginalization. We call for the complete eradication of this practice, as no human should be subjected to such indignity.