ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the work of a host of civil society innovations, which have contributed to raising a new public consciousness around sanitation work, enabled access to the rights and dignity of sanitation workers and reduced the drudgery of sanitation work. It traces the evolution of laws, policies and programmes directed at ameliorating the dismal condition of sanitation workers, particularly manual scavengers, while pointing to the problem of lackadaisical implementation and lack of accountability of public institutions. For decades the sanitation workspace has reported direct, cultural and structural violence suffered by sanitation workers, particularly manual scavengers. Violence has been felt at two levels – social violence of caste discrimination as well as the threat of physical violence as a result of caste discrimination and job conditions. The chapter provides examples of relevant work have been broadly discussed under two categories: campaigns and rights-oriented work and policy and research-oriented work.
