Deep Down In The Society

We are on the top of the world that we are not able to see what actually happening deep down in the society.Like us, we count our problems over the surface but never try to dive inside.

Generally, when you ask people the core issues in the society, they’ll list out a 100 (because there’s no scarcity in that), but these problems have been in the spotlight for years and their solutions, well, we all know India is still the 2^nd most populated country with high rate of unemployment, hunger and poverty. However, amidst all this, there are still certain practices in our society which happen right in front of our eyes but are blatantly ignored. One of them is – Manual Scavenging.

Manual scavenging is one of the issues which should be brought to the public's attention. You've hardly heard any politician talking over this subject or putting it in their manifesto. Even in society, nobody minds the difference of profession based on the caste system . There might be many people who are hearing this term for the first time and it's not a big deal.

So, manual scavenging is a practice to clean manholes and the sewage which contains the garbage of the nearby areas. The mixture of every possible sort of garbage that comes from chemical industries, factories, and houses which contain harmful gases and chemicals like methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide and ammonia which causes hypoxia, a deadly condition caused due to deprivation of oxygen to the brain. In some case, the scavengers die within the seconds of entering the manholes. Not only the manhole but even the gutters are immensely hazardous for any human to clean manually. But still, there are many who practice it on a daily basis. As of now, you would be thinking if it is dangerous to exercise then why do they do it, because, inter alia there are two major reasons of it, which have been the problems for years and they are: MONEY and CASTE. Usually, the principle that works behind proposing this work to people is Casteism. You will never find any elite caste working there but only those who, from the prospective of Indian society, are meant to attempt such activities; The Lower Caste. As, sometimes, it is even hard for them to get food. So ultimately, they have to commit themselves into this work. Rephrased. Because of such hypocrisy in society, not surprisingly, only people belonging to lower castes are proposed to do this work. You will never find any elite class to perform such tasks.

Although the Supreme Court has banned this practice in India twice, first in 1993 and later by improving in 2013, no legal actions are taken whenever it observed. In fact, it takes place openly and no one cares about it because it has become so familiar and taken for granted that people fail to realize the atrocities against them. Now, it had also said that in case of emergency, people can practice it but with adopting protective tools. Still, the poor are offered this work by the private companies and they literally clean sewage and septic tanks and enters in the manhole without carrying any protection for their body. You would found they enter in such a place where you cannot afford to stand for even a couple of minutes.

There were laws where manual scavenging with protective tools were made compulsory. But most of the scavenging work is taken by private companies who barely care about their labors unless and until they’re scarce or attract attention. The workers still clean sewage and septic tanks manually without any protection.

As a developing country, there are a lot more to chase. But we need to start with bringing and adopting the necessary changes, only then we can step up towards developed country. And for that we have to realize first that where are we loosing? A country never loses when its government gives up but when its people loose. So, as a society, we need to put ourselves responsible for the existence of such activities and then the government.

Added an ending to it.
You can write what we as a society can do or you can write about the practices in other countries, etc.