"According to central government estimates, there are 342,000 persons engaged in manual scavenging in India. Voluntary organisations believe the actual numbers are at least four times this figure."
This is beyond disbelief !! I am shocked !! I thought these kind of ppl dont' exist anymore really in India, or have chosen some other form of livelihood. Obviously, I am too far off from facts of India, sadly. In Warangal, in early mid 80's and early 90's near my aunt's place, I have actually seen these kind of ppl at work. It is beyond words to describe their work. After that govt thr banned use of those kind of systems, and the owners were forced to construct proper lavatories. Absolute disbelief that it is still so predominantly prevalent in India, and in major cities like delhi. Thnks on the eyeopening article Suresh. I am very happy for the women who had an opportunity to choose and prove themselves at someother human profession, and to read where they are at today. Thnks to those organisations who are working on these people. Divya On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 8:19 PM, suresh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Five years ago, Nanda earned a living cleaning dry latrines and disposing > off night soil by carrying it in containers balanced on her head. She had > married into a family of manual scavengers and was quickly initiated into > the "family business" by her mother-in-law. She abhorred the work but since > it was the only source of income, acquiesced to it. Between the two women, > the family earned a paltry monthly income of Rs.400. > > > > But all that changed in 2003 when Dr Bindeshwar Pathak of the Sulabh > International Social Service Organisation met up with the women manual > scavengers of Alwar district and resolved to liberate and mainstream them > > > > Read the full story here ... > http://www.indiatogether.org/2008/aug/wom-endscav.htm > > > > *I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still i > can do something. I will not refuse to do something I can do . ( Helen > Keller ) > > * > * > Suri's blog <http://www.sureshe.wordpress.com/> > > http://bhookh.com > http://aidindia.org > http://www.giftofvision.org > http://foodindia.org.in/ > http://tmad.org > http://freerice.com/ > http://asknri.com > > > * > > >
