But sanitation workers, scores of whom die each year from asphyxiation while removing waste from underground drains, have had enough, said Bezwada Wilson, the head of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), or Sanitation Workers’ Movement. MUMBAI — Five sanitation workers, all from the lowest rung of India’s caste system, were chosen in late February to meet a very important guest: Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India has laws banning the hiring of manual scavengers, but they have not been properly enforced, mostly due to difficulty collecting evidence and apathy by successive governments. Wilson has launched a hashtag #StopKillingUs on Twitter and demanded government help workers find jobs that give them dignity. The workers whose feet Modi washed in February are not satisfied with their jobs and want an end to manual scavenging, they told The Indian Express newspaper last month.

Source: Huffington Post April 07, 2019 07:30 UTC