It is safe to assume that by the time you open these pages on Monday morning, you’d already have come across our front page story highlighting the plight of sanitation workers tasked with cleaning the capital town of Kohima every morning. Despite existing social prejudice towards their profession, and extremely low salary, they are the ones who put their health –and thus life – at risk while trying to keep the city clean every single day. With whatever means they have been provided with.
Even though the report was based on the workers in Kohima, the condition of sanitation workers in other places of our state are no different – if not worse. Everywhere, the sanitation workers are an unrepresented lot – in every sense of the word. Whether we admit it or not, there is still social prejudice towards their profession as well as their persons. We tend to look down upon their work as a task beneath our dignity. And we still look down upon their persons as someone less deserving of our regard and our humanity. Even the newspapers, except for the occasional ones, have failed to represent their voice often.
And then there is the issue of health. Daily exposure to toxic wastes without wearing any protective gears has left them vulnerable to typhoid, infectious hepatitis, worm infection, skin problems, respiratory problems and pulmonary diseases. There are guidelines for this: basic hygiene practice for workers, personal protective equipment, training for workers and vaccination recommendations for workers. But as the workers themselves have said, they are not even provided with a single dose of tetanus injection.
There is no mistaking that this is one of the most lethal occupations in India. According to an independent study, at least 22,300 men and women die in India every year doing various kinds of sanitary works. Accurate figures are hard to come by since this is about the deaths of a section of population that most of India, or for that matter most Nagas, refuses to see or acknowledge.
According to the report, the workers start their work as early as 3 o’clock in the morning without any safety gears. And often they are subjected to harassment from members of the public. This is a reflection of our ignorance. It shows that we are totally unconcerned about an occupation, which considering the existing circumstances, is no less than a sacrifice. Yes, sacrifices come with many faces and many names.
Dedication and courage in service – even when faced with dire and life-threatening circumstances – require us to accord due respect and admiration. Even more so in the case of those that rise to the task and offer themselves every day, deliberately, silently and without recognition.
