Is it sacrilege for upper castes to clean toilets?

For centuries we have thrust chores we regard to be unclean and socially humiliating on people of the lowest, most oppressed castes.

In urban India some imagine that caste demarcations have become history. We need to only check the caste identity of those employed to clean the toilets in our offices and homes to recognise how wrong they are. For centuries we have thrust chores we regard to be unclean and socially humiliating on people of the lowest, most oppressed castes.

They alone carry the burdens of disposing of animal carcasses, skinning animals, and scavenging and disposing of human excreta. Today, although not written, there’s virtually 100% reservation for the lowest castes in jobs as cleaners and sweepers.

Young people born into these disadvantaged castes battle formidable barriers to enter and stay in school. Research demonstrates that they frequently endure humiliating caste discrimination in classrooms. However, even for many who persevere with their studies, and nearly all of those who cannot, their caste destiny forces them to clean toilets as the only employment available to them.

Can we imagine an India in which cleaning toilets becomes an employment open to people of all castes ? A progressive social service institute in Ahmedabad did it. It issued a job advertisement for a sanitation worker, stating that preference would be given to candidates of higher castes.

The institute knew that the notification would be controversial: They issued it to stimulate public debate and soul-searching about embedded social inequalities. What they didn’t anticipate was violence and threats, forcing its director Prasad Chacko to go into hiding.

The advertisement was issued by the Human Development and Research Centre (formerly Behavioural Science Centre), established in the seventies by a group of Jesuit priests. These St Xavier’s College teachers were moved by the caste discrimination, untouchability and violence which they encountered across Gujarat. The institute tried to organise Dalit and tribal people, and promote gender equity. In 2002, it also became a hub for activists working with survivors of the communal carnage.

Some years ago, the position of a sanitation worker fell vacant in their Ahmedabad office. It was advertised, and as invariably happens, only people from the lowest-caste, Valmiki community, applied. Mukesh, a ‘tenth-fail’ Valmiki youth was appointed, but Chacko and his colleagues felt it would be unjust for him to be trapped for a lifetime in only cleaning floors and toilets. They helped him learn computers and office errands and promoted him as an office assistant.

This spring the position of sanitation worker fell vacant again. It was certain that if they issued a job call, only Valmiki candidates would apply. The audacious idea of stating in the advertisement that preference would be given to applicants of higher castes came up.

They mentioned that Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Baniyas and Patels among Hindus; Syeds and Pathans among Muslims (priestly and warrior castes); Syrian Christians; Parsis; and Jains, would be preferred. Chacko, a Syrian Christian says that his community still claims its Brahmanical pedigree with the myth that St Thomas came to Kerala in AD 51 and converted 51 Brahmins, the ancestors of all later Syrian Christians.

Unsurprisingly, there were no high-caste applications, but one morning late in June three young men in jeans forced themselves into Chacko’s office, introducing themselves as members of organisations representing Brahmins and Rajput Kshatriyas, and challenged him: “Do you believe that Brahmins and Kshatriyas should clean toilets? Don’t you know what responsibilities are assigned to us by tradition?”

“Would you ask Christian priests or Muslim maulvis to clean toilets? It is the Kshatriyas who protect the nation, how dare you insult them by asking them to clean latrines?” they asked. Chacko said that there was no reason for priests and maulvis to not clean toilets, and that it is the army and police — comprising men and women from every caste — that defend the nation. They recorded Chacko’s views on their phones and left.

In a few hours, Chacko’s interview began circulating on the Internet, and a number of Gujarati TV channels arrived at the college campus where the institute is located. By afternoon, a crowd of around 20 angry young men gathered at the campus demanding that Chacko apologise. The police finally arrived and dispersed the men.

The next day, more men gathered, and when they could not meet Chacko, they smashed windows and flower pots outside the office. Many joined in to condemn the advertisement, including Hardik Patel’s outfit and for good measure even a Muslim organisation. The institute issued a ‘limited’ apology for unintentionally hurting sentiments, but did not retract the advertisement.

Dalit and human rights groups on the other hand rose in solidarity across Gujarat issuing statements in support of this gesture for advancing the idea of social equality. Jignesh Mewani, a Dalit activist and lawyer said, “Narendra Modi has declared that sanitation work is a spiritual exercise. Then why should the upper castes be denied this opportunity?” The matter simmered for a while, and is now dormant, but Chacko continues to be on leave.

The fury and indignation of upper caste organisations is instructive of how entrenched the idea of caste remains in India. On the other hand, simply the accident of birth into disadvantaged-caste households makes it fine for low-caste youth to be trapped in this work that the upper castes so despise.

The country is building toilets in every rural school, which is welcome, but the responsibility for cleaning these toilets frequently fall on students from these oppressed castes, who are shamed into doing work that would so offend their higher-caste classmates. This too causes no outrage.

It is evident that the value of different lives still varies infinitely in India based on the chance of where children are born. For some, the skies are within reach, and the idea of cleaning dirt is sacrilege. For others, clearing human waste is a fitting destiny, and reaching for the skies is sacrilege.

SOURCE HINDUSTAN TIMES 

Over 10.14 million Indians at risk from excess Fluoride in drinking water

The World Health Organisation says that ingestion of excess fluoride, most commonly in drinking-water, can cause fluorosis which affects the teeth and bones

Nearly 14,000 habitations in 17 states reported to have excess fluoride in drinking water sources, affecting more than 1.14 crore (a crore being equivalent to 10 million) people, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

According to the World Health Organisation, ingestion of excess fluoride, most commonly in drinking-water, can cause fluorosis which affects the teeth and bones.

Moderate amounts lead to dental effects, but long-term ingestion of large amounts can lead to potentially severe skeletal problems, WHO say.

At 6,855, the maximum cases have been reported from Rajasthan, followed by 1,087 cases from Bihar, 1,065 from Karnataka and 1,064 from West Bengal, Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

Young girl with dental fluorosis in Holkunda village

“As on July 20, the problem of excess fluoride in rural drinking water sources is reported by 17 states in 13,949 habitations,” he said.

The minister said 1.14 crore people are at risk due to presence of excess fluoride in water.

Rural drinking water is a state subject. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation assists the states in providing safe drinking water in rural areas through centrally sponsored National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).

As per the plan of the Ministry, 90 per cent of the rural population would be provided with safe drinking water by 2020 through surface water based piped supply schemes, he said.

In a separate reply, the minister said that during 2015-16, an amount of Rs 4,268.58 crore has been provided to the states under NRDWP. While in 2016-17, Rs 1986.66 crore has been released to the states in first installment in April-May.

SOURCE NDTV 

SO what will it be, a toilet or safe drinking water? The stark choice facing many people in rural India

A hand pump with a cracked base in Dhenkenal, Odisha. Poorly maintained pumps are vulnerable to contamination from above ground as well as from nearby leach pits.

June in Odisha state’s Puri district, and the mercury is hitting 39C. The monsoon is still days away but, when it comes, the Mahanadi river could flood low-lying villages, as it often has done. One such village is Aaruha, a network of congested huts surrounded by vast rice fields.

Chaibi Swain, 52, lives here with her husband, a rice farmer. Her home is little different to the rest of Aaruha’s low-rise dwellings, but it has a toilet, which puts her among a small minority in rural Odisha. 

Eight out of nine people in Odisha’s villages do not use toilets, instead defecating in the open, leaving them vulnerable to diseases. The Swains, with their tiny toilet, which empties into a leach pit – a hole in the ground used to compost faeces when there is no sewage system – are the face of progress.

There is a problem, however. The leach pit is next to the household’s drinking-water source, a tube well. Water so close to a leach pit is vulnerable to contamination from faecal germs, since bacteria, viruses and protozoa can travel through soil. 

This toilet with a leach pit in Puri has been built next to a hand pump, making contamination likely

Worse, when the monsoon comes and the Mahanadi overruns its banks, the groundwater levels in Aaruha rise, making the contamination worse. The Swains’ toilet could actually be a health risk.

They aren’t the only ones whose backyard toilet is a threat to the water supply. As the Swachch Bharat Mission (SBM) – India’s ambitious campaign to stop open defecation by 2019 – gains pace, about 1.3m leach-pit toilets have been built in Odisha alone.

In districts such as Ganjam, Balasore and Puri, these pits are often built without safeguards against contamination, say the NGOs working with the government. “It is quite alarming, because if this problem is not addressed at this time, we are building sites of contamination all around,” says Devdeep Saha, a research associate at the sanitation NGO Friend in Need Trust.

The safeguards in coastal districts such as Puri, which have high groundwater tables and are prone to flooding, include keeping a 10-metre distance between water sources and leach pits, raising the top of pits above the ground so that flood water does not enter, and sealing the bottom of pits to prevent pathogens escaping. But villagers who build their own toilets in return for funds from the mission often ignore these safeguards.

The reasons are many. First, many households in congested villages do not have the space to build toilets and tube wells far apart. Harendranath Pradhan, a government sanitation engineer in Odisha’s Balasore district, says this is the main reason for guidance being ignored.

“Even though his job is to ensure toilets are properly built, Pradhan says this isn’t always possible. “We tell the beneficiary to maintain a distance from the water source. But they say they don’t have the land. So we build the toilet, because we have to meet targets,” he says.

India is not yet meeting its mission goals. Only about 19m toilets have been built across rural India, meaning another 92m are needed over the next three years to meet the 2019 target. Vivek Sabnis, who previously worked for the Bangalore-based sanitation NGO Arghyam, says: “Unfortunately, everybody is pushing for quantity over quality.”

Odisha isn’t the only state that faces a threat to its water supplies from new toilets. Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand also have badly built toilets, according to Saha. This means that, as coverage grows, contamination may worsen.

A study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology in April found that certain diarrhoea-causing protozoa can travel 150 metres or more in the high groundwater of Puri to contaminate even deep tube wells, which are thought safer than shallow tube wells and open ponds. The study says full latrine coverage in high water table areas would reduce contamination in open ponds, but increase it in tube wells.

Marion Jenkins, lead author of the study and an environmental health researcher at the University of California in Davis, says recommended safeguards may reduce contamination a little, but won’t eliminate it. “Drinking-water aquifers are already seriously polluted with faecal protozoal pathogens from the existing stock of latrines in rural Puri,” she says.

This means that unless the existing latrines are pulled down, and new ones built differently, pollution will remain.

Another study, published in January, found tube wells in Bihar to be contaminated by faecal pathogens about 18% of the time, when they weren’t far enough from pit toilets. This study was done in summer, and the authors predict contamination would increase during monsoon.

None of this means India should panic and abandon pit toilets, says Sandy Cairncross, an environmental health researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Improved toilet coverage is likely to benefit people much more than it hurts them, he points out, adding that it would be better to provide piped water to villages, instead of relying on tube wells and ponds.

Another solution is to train villagers to monitor the quality of their toilets, instead of relying on government officials to do so, says Sujoy Mojumdar, a former SBM director who is now with Unicef India. 

The system of a government official inspecting toilets before disbursing money doesn’t work because toilet users do not feel ownership, he argues. Village teams already exist in some states, he says, “but it is still a rare example and not widespread”.

SOURCE THE GUARDIAN UK

Majority of teenage girls in Northern Ghana drop out of school over menstruation

A research conducted by the Catholic Relief Services, the University for Development Studies and the Desert Research Institute has shown that about 59-95 of teenage girls in Northern Ghana have little knowledge about issues of menstrual hygiene.

According to the research about 95 per cent of these girls miss school during their menstrual periods because they are mocked at by their peers especially the boys.

Girls learn about menstrual hygiene management and other health issues from a trusted teacher at their school

The research also showed that girls in their menses are perceived as unclean making it difficult for them to stay in school or attend social events during that time of the month.

Presenting the findings at a symposium in Tamale, the Coordinator of Schools Health Education Program, Bernadette Kafari said many people in the Northern region stigmatize young girls or women when they are in their menstrual periods leading to school dropout.

She said at the lower level the dropout rate is low but as they progress to the senior high school the dropout rates increased to 65 percent for girls and 58 percent for the boys.

Madam Kafari said they have had to mobilise key stakeholders in the region to help address the findings.

The Country Representative of the Catholic Relief Service Kris H. Ozar charged stakeholders in the education sector to support in the mobilization of resources to help tackle the issues of menstrual hygiene in schools across the country.

Education stakeholders need to mobilise resources to help tackle the issues of menstrual hygiene in schools across the country

He said issues of menstrual hygiene remain a challenge in the country and called for its management.

The Country Director said despite Ghana’s growth in education and health the Northern and the Upper East regions are still struggling to reach their full potential.

Mr Ozar said absenteeism is rife in the two regions with the retention of girls in schools becoming a huge challenge.

He said the Catholic Relief Service is working in the education sector to ensure increase the enrolment and retention of the girl child in school.

Catholic Relief Service organisation works in a number of countries particularly in sanitary pad research 

Mr Ozar said currently CRS and its partners are working with 138 schools in six districts in the Northern and Upper East Region on menstrual hygiene.

He added that they are targeting the enrolment and retention of about 122,758 pupils in these schools at the end of the three year duration.

Mr Ozar said the CRS is also working hand-in-hand with the Ghana Health Service and the Ghana Education Service to mobilise and sensitise parents and Teachers on menstrual hygiene to help curb the absenteeism in these regions.

Mr Ozar called on the private sector to support the projects to ensure its success.

SOURCE MYJOYONLINE.COM

'Healthy Start' campaign kick started to curb maternal mortality in India

Infant health worker Pinki weighing a child as part of a regular check-up

WASHFAIR Reporter

One in five newborn deaths within the first month of birth, could be prevented by ensuring access to clean water and providing a clean birthing environment, a new survey has found.

The survey commissioned by WaterAid India entitled ‘Healthy start campaign’ cited that Sepsis, a leading cause of infection in newborns, is associated with unclean practices at and after birth.

“Evidence also suggests that poor water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities is associated with high in-hospital maternal mortality,” the survey read in part.

 With 167 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births and 28 newborn deaths per 1,000 live births, India has one of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality in the world. Studies have shown that many deaths in the first month of life result from diseases and conditions that are preventable.

Though the link between lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and disease was established in the last century, most of India’s healthcare facilities continue to have inadequate WASH facilities. Almost 140,000 children under the age of five die every year in India from causes linked to lack of clean water and adequate sanitation, and poor hygiene practices.

WaterAid, globally, envisions everyone, everywhere to have access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. In India, WaterAid assessed the situation of WASH in 343 healthcare facilities across 12 districts in six states.

The findings draw attention towards the poor status of WASH in healthcare facilities. There is not only severe lack of WASH facilities in the healthcare institutions but wherever present, most of them are either dysfunctional or inconveniently situated for the expectant or lactating mother.

Healthy Start is a campaign by WaterAid India with an overall goal to contribute towards preventing a significant number of neonatal and maternal deaths through safe WASH in healthcare services.

Its major objectives include influence change in neonatal and maternal healthcare for a shift from curative to preventive health services; strengthen the health delivery system to ensure adequate and safe WASH in healthcare facilities; and increase demand for safe WASH services by communities in healthcare facilities.

The government’s National Rural Health Mission (launched in 2005 as NRHM) brought the issues related to newborn healthcare into limelight. Since then, there have been several programmes and schemes launched to promote maternal and neonatal healthcare with an emphasis on institutional delivery ensuring a safe and professional birthing environment for the expectant mother and the newborn.

For example, the Janani Suraksha Yojana (implemented in 2005) has led to an exponential increase in institutional delivery, currently estimated at 80 per cent of all deliveries. The Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (started in 2011) introduced a special provision for both facility based and home based newborn care to ensure neonatal care in Primary Health Centres, Community Health Centres and District Hospitals. 

Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCH+A) approach introduced in 2013 places an emphasis on ensuring a continuum of care from pre-pregnancy to childhood with specific components for each segment.

The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), launched in 2014 with an aim to make India open defecation free by 2019 has increased its ambit to address healthcare facilities as well. The specific national initiative programme ‘KAYAKALP’ launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in May 2015 as a part of SBM promotes cleanliness, hygiene, infection control, and sustainable practices related to WASH in healthcare institutions.

This offers a unique opportunity to ensure that every newborn and mother is protected from preventable diseases and thereby enable that every start of life is a Healthy Start.

SOURCE WATERAID INDIA

Toilets for all possible in 3 years: Sulabh founder

Dr Pathak

DR Bindeshwar Pathak, sanitation expert and founder of the prominent NGO Sulabh International, believes it is possible to provide toilets for all citizens across India in three years, but ministers need to focus and carry forward the commitment to deliver it.

Dr Pathak, who was in London for a conference on India’s smart cities, told Hindustan Times on Thursday evening the bureaucracy could not be expected to lead, but to follow directives of ministers to implement such a massive project.

“The leadership and clarity is there at the top from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this important issue, but ministers responsible for delivering need the vision to take it forward, and not expect the bureaucracy to lead the drive,” Dr Pathak, 73, said.

Presenting figures of the all-India challenge, Dr Pathak said 120 million toilets can be constructed in three years with a budget of Rs 3.6 lakh crore (each toilet costing Rs 30,000, inclusive of cost escalation).

Besides subsidy from the government, potential sources for funding include corporate social responsibility (CSR) budgets of thousands of Indian companies, non-resident Indians, bank loans and contribution from beneficiaries.

“It will not only provide employment in our 2.51 lakh panchayats and 6.46 lakh villages, but also ensure the sustained maintenance of toilets,” he said.

Backed with 45 years of award-winning experience in providing low-cost sanitation in India and other countries, Sulabh’s approach is based on partnerships with local governments, backed by community participation. It ensures maintenance and follow-up of projects.

“It does not matter if we are part of this initiative but I can say that only the low-cost Sulabh model based on two-pit pour flush compost toilet technology can ensure that India is free of open defecation. They can take our model, but the government alone cannot do it,” he said.

Earlier this month, Sulabh opened the world’s largest public toilet facility in the holy city of Pandharpur in Maharashtra, with nearly 2,800 seats. Pathak said Sulabh had so far constructed 8,500 public toilets and 1.5 million in homes.

SOURCE HINDUSTAN TIMES 

Africa’s water woes call for strong dedication, says VP

INNOVATIVE financing mechanisms and diversification of water resources are crucial for Africa to tackle the challenges facing the water sector and achieve sustainable development.

The Vice-President, Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, said this yesterday in Dar es Salaam at the opening of the 10th African Ministers Councilon Water (AMCOW).

The AMCOW General Assembly was preceded by the 6th Africa Water Week which commenced on July 18 to 22 with the theme ‘achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on water security and sanitation.’

According to the VP, recent global statistics show that about 800 million people still lack access to safe water, while about 2.5 million do not have access to improved sanitation.

“Almost these affected people live in developing world and particularly in Africa which accounts for 40 per cent of this population,” Ms Hassan said. She added that within an hour, about 400 people mostly children are likely to die in the continent from water linked diseases.

Estimates show that about 400 people mostly children are likely to die every hour in the continent from water linked diseases

It is estimated that 60 per cent of hospital beds in developing countries are occupied by people suffering from water related diseases.

Ms Hassan said that the common resolve by Africans to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targets on water and sanitation has helped about 322 million Africans to have gained access to safe and drinking water and 189 million have access to an improved sanitation.

She, however, said that Africa is currently experiencing high population growth and expansion of its cities accompanied by accelerated economic activities, thus call for collaborative efforts to make deliberate considerations on the requirements for water related sanitation.

“These challenges are many and require bold and decisive solutions … we must tackle future challenges by diversifying our sources of water and being innovative in our financing mechanisms, taking into account huge funding requirements for the sector,” Ms Hassan observed.

She added that there was a need for agency of mobilising funds to put the right infrastructure and skilled manpower to develop and manage the sector more efficiently. Ms Hassan, however, 

reaffirmed the commitment by the fifth phase government to initiate strategic industrial growth in key areas including adding value to agricultural products.

“This anticipated industrial growth is likely to attract expansion of the agricultural sector with notable expansion of irrigated land and general increase in farming activities in the country,” she cited.

She said more water abstraction from the ecosystem will be required in a sustainable manner in order to achieve sustainable development.

Speaking to the ‘Daily News’, the AMCOW Executive Secretary, Mr Bai Mass Taal, said that attainment of SGDs needs proper financing mechanism.

According to him, Africa needs 11 billion USD per year for the implementation of its projects, thus without proper financing it will be difficult for the continent to achieve its goals. He called upon African governments to allocate more funds for the water sector in order to address the impending problems.

Africa needs 11 billion USD per year for the implementation of its projects

“This conference is crucial because it gives us an opportunity to sit down and draw out our strategies and road map on financial mechanisms to achieve the SGDs,” Mr Taal said.

He further noted that African governments should act now on water problems facing its people, adding that approximately 340 million people in Africa have no access to drinking water. Mr Taal commended the development partners for supporting Africa in water and sanitation projects and called for further support for the continent to attain SDGs.

For her part, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Ms Rhoda Tumisiime, said that the theme for the 6th Africa Water week and the 10th AMCOW General Assembly is timely because it is in line with the theme of the 2016 AU summit.

SOURCE DAILY NEWS