Safai karamcharis to appeal to PM Modi for eradication of manual scavenging

NEW DELHI: Next month, a day before Modi visits the birthplace of Babasaheb Ambedkar to mark the latter’s 125th birth anniversary, a large group of Dalits and safai karamcharis seeking eradication of manual scavenging will send him a list of demands.

Bhim Yatra — a countrywide tour undertaken by safai karmacharis to campaign for eradication of manual scavenging — will culminate at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, on April 13 where they will demand doing away with the practice that is forced on members of the erstwhile untouchable castes.

Bezwada Wilson, national convener of Safai Karamchari Andolan, said activists will present a memorandum of four demands to the PM. “We have already submitted this memorandum to the President, CMs of 25 states, and over 400 district magistrates or collectors or divisional commissioners,” he said.

The list of demands in the memorandum include a “national apology” by the GoI for what the law describes as “historical injustice” on the Dalit community, modernisation of septic tanks and sewer lines to ensure they need not be cleaned manually so as to prevent accidental deaths, etc.