Signing you in

Listen 00:00 0.5x 0.75x 1x 1.25x 1.5x 2x AI Narration This audio is AI generated.

The invisible workforce sustaining the idea of ‘Swachh Bharat’ has been left bereft of basic necessities in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur. Many of the city’s sanitation workers lack toilets at home, Aadhaar cards, or even basic protective gear. These gaps emerged from a survey by the Chhattisgarh State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), which was carried out not by officials, but by law interns.

Last winter, the SHRC in Raipur decided to conduct a survey to document the problems of sanitation workers. It turned to the law students who visit the Commission for college field projects. Over nine months, till July this year, more than 500 interns, working with police officers in batches of 25 to 30, surveyed around 8,000 sanitation workers in Raipur. The report has been sent to the Raipur and Bilaspur district authorities for action.

The survey report highlighted that 336 of the workers did not have toilet facilities at home, parents of 319 did not receive old age and widow pensions, 1907 did not have important identification cards like Voter ID, AADHAR, Ration card and Ayushman card, 749 worked without proper safety and sanitation kits and 165 were going through substance-abuse-related problems — including some of their children too.

Interestingly, in 1,076 cases, contractors had confiscated the workers’ ATM cards and passbooks enabling them to pay lesser wages on account of commission. “Those who are helpless and are in need of money quietly agree to these conditions put by the contractor,” explained a SHRC official.

Another 2,387 workers had not received benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) — government backed life insurance and health insurance schemes.

“It was an innovative idea and the main motto was to put spotlight on the needs of these workers so they do not get left behind,” said Manish Mishra, former joint director and nodal officer for the initiative. The interns came from Chhattisgarh College, Amity University, Hidayatullah National Law University, Kusum Dai Dapke Law College, Kalinga University, Guru Ghasidas Central University and Pt Ravishankar Shukla University, the SHRC said.