Delhi Assembly poll: sanitation workers need nothing more than a permanent job

Akash, a second-generation sanitation worker, seeks permanent job security and dignity in his work despite facing challenges.

For 30-year-old Akash, a second-generation sanitation worker, nothing has changed in all these years except getting safety gear and a few machines to clear the sewer lines. Like his father, he too has to enter sewer lines despite courts, human rights activists, and civil society members repeatedly asking authorities to use machines to repair the sewer lines.

But Mr. Akash, a Dalit worker, wants more than equipment and machines: a permanent job.

“Though the authorities provide machines and equipment like safety belts, gloves, shoes, masks, helmets, and torches. Still, we can’t escape from getting down into the sewer lines, which are at times more than 3 feet deep,” Mr. Akash complains.

“Sometimes we struggle to breathe. Our eyes burn, but now, we are used to it. What we need is dignity in our job. It can be achieved if our jobs get permanent and we start receiving better pay and all benefits,” he adds.

Mr. Akash, who works in Chirag Delhi in south Delhi, is trying to get a sanitation worker job for his younger brother. His father has died from ailments.

He remains excited for the February 5 Delhi Assembly election. “Thousands of migrants and contractual workers are in Delhi. But the difference is we are from a lower caste. For us, there is only one thing – hope,” he explains.

Most of the people who work in sanitation are Dalits.