DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2009 - Indian Social Institute

UP’s upper caste ‘safai karmacharis’ get the boot (2)
Some upper caste Hindus, working as safai karmacharis in Uttar Pradesh, have lost their jobs because of
a reason unheard of: outsourcing. One may have heard of multinational companies outsourcing their
work, but in Uttar Pradesh, some safai karmacharis belonging to the upper castes “outsourced” their work
as they felt that doing the job was below their “dignity.” Usually, the upper caste people do not apply for
the posts of safai karmacharis and the work was mostly performed by the people belonging to the valmiki
samaj. Forced by the lack of employment avenues in other fields, some upper caste people had applied
for the post of safai karmacharis in large numbers when the Mayawati government announced
recruitment of over one lakh people in the state last year. According to state government officials, even
those having post-graduate degrees had applied for the post. There had been allegations of large scale
irregularities in the selection process. Several applicants moved the Allahabad High Court, which had at
one point of time stayed the selection process. It was alleged that huge bribes were paid for the
appointment and a large number of upper caste candidates were able to get the job. Once appointed,
they found that cleaning the streets was below their dignity and hence they began to hire people from the
lower strata of society. According to government sources, 90 per cent of their work was outsourced,
which was revealed after physical verification. “So far the services of over 500 safai karmacharis, who
were found to have outsourced their work, have been terminated,” sources confided. “While they (safai
karmacharis) drew hefty salaries, those to whom the work was outsourced, were paid around Rs 1,500 to
Rs 2,000,” the sources revealed to Deccan Herald. The authorities have also stopped the salaries of
hundreds of safai karmacharis after receiving complaints that they have outsourced the work, while
scores have put in their papers fearing action. The district officials have been directed to launch physical
verification to identify the absentee safai karmacharis and terminate their service. “As they are still in the
probation period, they could be sacked after giving a month’s notice,” the sources added.(Deccan Herald
30/7/09)
"38 per cent of safai karamcharis are illiterate"
NEW DELHI: A day-long workshop was organised here to present the findings of a study on safai
karamcharis in the Capital by the Indian Social Institute. Sharing the findings, Ramesh Nayak, the coordinator
of the study, said his team had found that 38 per cent of these workers were illiterate. A high 97
per cent of the safai karamcharis were unaware of the Prevention of Manual Scavenging Act of 1993, and
88 per cent of them had no information about the Scheduled Castes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,
1989. "These karamcharis are subjected to the whims and devious ways of contractors. These
contractors pay less and sometimes defer payments for months together. About 52 per cent families live
in one-room tenements, 32 per cent have no tap water and 35 per cent have no toilets," pointed out Dr.
Nayak. The workshop had specific sessions on the Ebzdar system of contract, problems of women safai
karamcharis, challenges before these workers and the way ahead. More than 130 safai karamcharis
attended the workshop. (The Hindu 30/7/09)
Caste body lays siege to village (2)
Chandigarh: July 30: A 300-strong mob owing allegiance to a powerful khap panchayat, or caste council,
besieged a village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district on Thursday demanding the ouster of a jat family that has
refused to comply with their direction to leave. The "elders" had recently ordered the family of Ravinder
Gehlot to pack up and leave Dharana village after the young man refused to divorce the girl he had
married four months ago. Khap members had decreed the liaison was not according to gotra (kinship
traditions) and must therefore end. Ravinder belongs to the Gehlawat gotra while his wife Shilpa is a
Kadyani. But the khap has held that these are related clans, which, in its opinion, makes the young bride
and groom caste siblings. Initially somewhat inclined to accept the khap’s edict, the families of both the
husband and wife dug in their heels after Ravinder attempted suicide a fortnight ago. Directed to "leave
Dharana never to return", the Gehlots petitioned the Punjab and Haryana high court, which ordered the
Haryana police to protect them. But clearly intent on defying both the court and the police, 300 members
of the Kadyan khap marched on Dharana village to evict the Gehlot family from their ancestral home. And
when the huge police contingent, deployed in anticipation of violence, blocked the "elders", they pitched
tents on the outskirts of Dharana. "We shall sit at this very spot indefinitely until the policewallahs get tired
and leave. And it will be good for everyone if they take the family of Ravinder with them," a senior
member of the khap declared. Jhajjar superintendent of police Saurabh Singh, who is desperate to
quickly defuse the potentially explosive situation, claimed, "There are just about 30 to 40 khap members