‘We wonder if there’s any right to safeguard our interests’

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, August 11

Ram Das, a 19-year-old youth, came to Bathinda at the age of 3 with his family and started living in National Colony of Balla Ram Nagar.

During the conversation with Bathinda Tribune, he said my family’s financial condition was very poor and they were seven siblings, four brothers and three sisters.

Because of poverty, they were never sent to school.

“I had started working as a manual scavenger at the age of 8. From that time onwards, I kept working as a manual scavenger to date. Moreover, our job is not safe and secure at all. We often get rejected from our job, which puts a lot of mental pressure on us,” he said.

“These days I am working in a hotel as well as in a hospital, from where I earn Rs 8,000 per month, but this amount is not sufficient to run the family. As I have to pay Rs 2,000 for the rented house and near about Rs 800 to 1,000 for electricity and water bills. I have to take care of my parents, wife and child,” he added.

During the work, contractors do not provide any uniform and tools. Sometimes, in hospital, they get hand-gloves to clean excrement. But uniforms have been given to permanent employees, he said.

When asked about when he got married, Ram said he got married at the age of 17 with Kavita (16 years). “We have an 8-month-old girl named Parvati. My wife has studied up to Class IV and she works as a domestic help in houses. She earns Rs 2,500 per month. She’s the only literate person in our family. We both want to educate our baby and do not want to involve her into this filthy works,” Ram Das said.

When asked about their rights, Ram said a majority of the manual scavengers lack confidence to approach the officials for getting any kind of facility, as they are illiterate and are snubbed by officials.

“Moreover, we are not aware of any law for our betterment, nor the authorities concerned have ever told us about our rights,” he added.