Pandharpur’s wari, also its shame

In a bid to attract the society’s attention to the inhuman method of manual scavenging in Pandharpur during wari (pilgrimage), Satara-based social worker Sandeep Jedhe has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Bombay high court.

Jedhe  had named   the state government, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes state offices in Maharashtra and Goa, the State Human Rights Commission, the law and judiciary department and the Pandharpur Municipal Council as respondents.

The Campaign against Manual Scavenging in Maharashtra is a social group working to abolish the system prevailing in the state. The group realised that there was no implementation of and breach of the Employment of Manual Scavengers and

Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, in matters of manual scavenging in public health and sanitation.

The group filed the PIL to seek social justice from the court for the unorganised population of people who are working as manual scavengers, and to assert their rights under the Constitution, which guarantees the abolition of untouchability and caste-based discrimination and human rights violations.

Speaking to DNA, Jedhe said, “We met in Pandharpur to
understand various problems of the manual scavenging
system, then formed the group under the guidance of the
National Centre for Advocacy Studies (NCAS) in Pune in 2009.”
Advocate Asim Sarode pleading the PIL said, “The system of manual scavenging has been banned by law and hence it is made and declared illegal in India. Unfortunately the law is not being implemented in its real sense. Human beings form the socially downtrodden section of society are still working as manual scavengers in various cities of the state.”
The group unearthed incidence of the degrading system of manual scavenging in parts of Pune, Nagpur, Parbhani,
Solapur and Paithan, in various forms.

Considering the worst sanitary infrastructure in Pandharpur — where every year around one crore warkaris gather at the Vitthala temple — the group shot a documentary on the human scavengers and their condition.

According to information gathered through surveys and Right to Information Act, 2005, Pandharpur has 305 public
toilets run by Sulabh International; the municipal council has constructed 599 public toilets and provides 800 temporary toilets on the river embankment and other places.

It has been found by various surveys conducted from time to time that there is a shortage of 13,000 public toilets in Pandharpur town to cater to the influx of pilgrims. This leads to defecation in the open and employment of manual scavengers.

The PIL seeks directions to the respondents to implement the Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993, in its true spirit.