Mention efforts that has been taken by Sulabh intrnational to restore human dignity of scavengers in society in detail (in 100 to 150 words)
Answers
Explanation:
Championing the cause of dignity and human rights of women working as manual scavengers
In India, manual scavengers, who clean dry latrines, face severe social discrimination as they belong to the lowest stratum of India’s caste-based society – formerly known as “untouchables”. Though a law was passed in 1993 to prohibit manual scavenging, there are 794390 dry latrines cleaned by manual scavengers, mostly women, in India (2011 census).
Since its inception in 1970, Sulabh International, under the leadership of Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, launched a nation-wide movement to alleviate the plight of manual scavengers. His interventions have liberated over 200000 women from manual cleaning of toilets. Whilst the success of a specific five-point intervention programme designed to rehabilitate and economically empower them can be prominently seen in two towns of Rajasthan: Alwar and Tonk.
Sulabh Movement: the beginning
In 1968, young Bindeshwar Pathak had joined the Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebrations – a committee that was set up to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s 100 birthday. Gandhi aspired for an India where the plight of India’s downtrodden – formerly known as “untouchables” – could be alleviated. Young Pathak was sent to a town called Bettiah in Bihar to live and understand the sufferings of a community that was almost treated as an outcast owing to its untouchable status. It is here that Pathak learnt about the gross discrimination that the community faced in their day to day lives. But there was one moving incident that left a lasting impression on Pathak following which, he vowed to work for the betterment of the community across India.
I was joining my friends for a cup of tea in Bettiah town, when I saw a boy wearing a red shirt being attacked by a bull. People rushed to save him, but somebody in the crowd shouted that the young boy was from the colony where the ‘untouchables’ lived. Hearing this, everybody moved away and left him to die.
I was joining my friends for a cup of tea in Bettiah town, when I saw a boy wearing a red shirt being attacked by a bull. People rushed to save him, but somebody in the crowd shouted that the young boy was from the colony where the ‘untouchables’ lived. Hearing this, everybody moved away and left him to die.We quickly rushed in to help and took him to a hospital, but the boy died. That day I vowed to dedicate my life for the emancipation of people labelled as an ‘untouchable’.