Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo op of washing the feet of sanitation workers is failing to convince anyone of his commitment to their issues, as is evident from a sanitation worker’s statement that is now going viral on social media.
Speaking to a reporter of The Print, a woman sanitation worker, Beena, worker shrugs of the Prime Minister’s symbolic act as a sham. Highlighting the unfair and casteist treatment meted out to sanitation workers, she says that she works in the bungalows of many people, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and that these households keep separate cups for her and other workers.
She mentions that she also works at Delhi BJP MLA Vijendar Gupta’s house.
Camera ke saamne ke jitne marzi pair ragad lo, sachaai to aaj bhi yahi hai jo ye mahila bata rahin hain @Gupta_vijender aur inke jaison ke baare mein. pic.twitter.com/pL1tGS0B3g
— Rofl Gandhi 2.0 🏹 Commentary (@RoflGandhi_) March 4, 2019
In the full video, Beena explains how two of her brothers have been killed while cleaning sewers. She says that the employers forced the two to enter the sewers, threatening that they would be kicked out of their jobs if they refused.
A day after the Prime Minister’s photo op, workers from across the country had assembled in New Delhi to press their demands for safer working conditions, modern equipment and implementation of sub-quota for sanitation workers, among other things.
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