INDIA: Municipal employees starving and sick in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Social Development Foundation (SDF) in Delhi, India of a disturbing case where the government is playing a vital role in creating poverty and hunger. Suddhu Rawat, his wife, and children are just one of several families living in Ghazipur and employed by the Municipality of Mohammdabad as daily wage labourers. The employees have all been working for the municipality as street/sewer cleaners for over 10 years but have not been guaranteed permanent employment. This means the employees receive less wages, no benefits, health care, social security and job security. They must work everyday and even a day’s sick leave will result in the reduction of their income. The families can barely afford food and as a result live in a near hunger situation.

The AHRC urges you to write to the concerned authorities, including the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and call on them to take necessary action in granting these workers full, permanent employment. The municipal employees should also be provided with the benefits and ration cards necessary to support their own livelihoods.

Urgent Appeals Desk — Hunger Alert
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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DETAILED INFORMATION:

Location: Nagar Palika Parishad Municipality, Mohammdabad, Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Persons affected: Suddhu Rawat (43), son of the late Vishuni Rawat, and his family. They include:
1. Jiuti Devi, wife, age 40, illiterate
2. Jitendra, son, age 18, educated up to third standard
3. Dharmendra, son, age 15, educated up to class 5
4. Virendra, son, age 13, educated up to class 5
5. Neha, daughter, age 10, educated up to class 2
6. Surendra, son, age 8, educated up to class 1

Other municipal employees residing in Ghazipur without permanent employment:

Mr. Rawat and his family currently live in Mohammdabad. The family is landless, and Rawat is a daily wage labourer who cleans the city streets, sewers and latrines in the municipality of Mohammdabad. He has been employed in this line of work for the last fifteen years although he is able to read and write. He commutes the 4 kilometres to his worksite by bicycle everyday.

The work is terrible and workers are not given the proper safety equipment needed in this type of vocation. As a result, Rawat, along with many of his co-workers, suffer from several illnesses and injuries directly resulting from the job. Rawat’s right hand is paralysed and he further suffers from skin and respiratory illnesses. His illnesses have affected his work dramatically and as a result he often brings his eldest son to the work with him, introducing a new generation to this dirty work culture. Further, because Rawat is not a permanent employee, he cannot afford to take sick leave; his salary of Rs. 1750/- per month is further reduced when he takes leave. He also does not get any benefits from the municipality and cannot depend on them for treatment.

The little money that Mr. Rawat does makes is insufficient to support his family. Thus, his wife Jiuti Devi has also taken up employment as a manual scavenger, cleaning human excrement and carrying night-soil (human waste) in private homes on a daily basis. She currently cleans the toilets of 16 families living in the village and in lieu of a salary, is paid in left over rice, bread and pulses. Her work is disgusting, humiliating and discriminatory but is all she can find because of her “untouchability”. Still, despite her efforts to secure food for her family, the family lives in a near hunger situation. 

Mr. Rawat and his family members all live in abject poverty and are malnourished and hungry. Yet, not one family member possesses a government issued Below Poverty Line (BPL) card. Instead, Rawat holds an Above the Poverty Line (APL) card which allows him to buy rations from the Public Distribution Shop (PDS) and only 3 litres of kerosene per month, which he still cannot afford. A small home is also being constructed for his family by the Indira Awas scheme however he still needs the means to afford food, medical treatment and schooling, and should be provided the appropriate permanent work and poverty alleviation cards to support his family.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The government of India prohibits manual scavenging yet we see how circumstances and caste discrimination have compelled Suddhu Rawat and his family to get involved in this line of work. A large number of manual latrines are still prevalent in Mohammdabad and the demand for manual scavenging is high. Many other villagers and employees of the Nagar Palika Parishad (municipal council) suffer in similar circumstances and because of their non-permanent job status live in a near hunger situation.

The Nagar Palika Parishad in Mohammdabad has not confirmed employment of 15 employees, including Suddhu Rawat, who have been working under the municipality for over 15 years. Mohammdabad is a rural town in Ghazipur district with a population of over 150,000 people. The workers are paid Rs. 1750/- per month and receive no work benefits, leave, health care or provident fund. Their jobs are not secure, they work every day of the year, even during floods and holidays, and they suffer significant reductions in salary if they take sick leave. Further, they clean the streets and sewers of the village without masks, headgear and safety equipment. Many suffer from respiratory and skin diseases as a result of this work. Being upgrade to permanent employment status would at the very least provide these workers with better pay scales to provide food and medical care for their families, social security, job security and holidays.

The municipal employees have petitioned for permanent employment but they have had no results. On July 10, 2003 Mr. Rakesh Bahadur, Secretary of the Uttar Pradesh government, wrote to all executives, district magistrates and related municipal officials in the state citing government rules that all employees appointed by a municipality before June 20, 1991 who have completed three years of term should be granted permanent employment inclusive of all benefits (notification no. 1335/9-1-03). While the 15 workers have appealed to the municipality with this notification they have still not received permanent work status. Thus, the workers and their families continue to live in abject poverty and hunger and have had to rely on manual scavenging as supplementary work.

Please write to government officials and other related local authorities in Mohammdabad, Ghazipur and Uttar Pradesh asking them to find permanent employment for Suddhu Rawat and the many other municipal employees in the State suffering the same fate. 

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the District Magistrate of Ghazipur, the Chief Executive Officer of Nagar Palika Parishad, Mohammadabad, and other relevant government officials regarding the poor living conditions and employment concerns of the victims. The employees, in accordance with government laws, should be granted social security, leave benefits, safety equipment, health benefits and schooling for their children. A sample letter follows. 

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