The lives of the sanitation workers whose feet Prime Minister Narendra Modi washed at the Kumbh Mela on February 24, remain unchanged. Speaking to the Indian Express, the five workers expressed dissatisfaction with their working conditions and regretted not appealing to the PM for an increase in salaries, for better, permanent jobs or for deploying machines for the sanitation work.
The report by Asad Rehman highlighted how little the PR photo op has achieved for the five workers.
Hori Lal, 35, hailing from Banda district of Uttar Pradesh, was one of the five workers who met the PM that day. Mentioning that he took a “thorough” bath, Hori Lal told IE, “He (Modi) is a great man, but, there is no difference in our lives. We were doing this cleaning work before too, we continue to do it.” Hori also expressed his dislike for the work he does. “I don’t like moving place to place for work. Kaam kuchch bhi ho, pucca hona chahiye. Pradhan Mantriji agar naukri de dete toh sahi hota (One can do any work, only it should be permanent. If the PM had given us a job, that would have been great),” he reportedly said.
Pyare Lal, 40, has been working as a sanitation worker at the Kumbh since November. He told IE that the PM met the workers for “hardly for a minute.” Stressing that the pay is not enough, he said, “Our salaries should have been increased by the PM. We leave our homes and come here,” adding that “Bas yahi saafa toh nishani hai ki main unse mila (This is the only proof that I met the PM),” reported IE.
“There is no comfort in this work,” said an angry Jyoti Mehtar, 21, who wanted to ask the PM to end manual scavenging, “One should not have to enter sewers to clean other people’s shit. Why should a human do what a machine can?” Expressing her dissatisfaction with the pay, she argued that their wages must be at least Rs. 500/day. Jyoti told IE that she was livid also because the media distorted her statement after she met the PM. She wanted to ask him for a job. Indian Express quotes Jyoti, “Woh kuchch bhi kar sakte hain. Samman se rozi nahin chalti hai (He can do anything he wants. One can’t earn a living with honour alone).”
Another worker, Naresh Kumar, 28, came to the Kumbh from Banda district’s Narayanpur village in October. Naresh feels the government ignores poor people like them, and points to caste being one of their biggest issues. A Valmiki, Naresh says, “We have been doing this work and will continue to do it.” Like others, Naresh too regrets not having gotten a chance to speak to the PM. He wished to ask the government to increase their salaries, end chua-chhoot (untouchability). He reportedly added, and others around him agreed, “Desh mein badlaav aana chahiye, woh aa nahin raha hai. Gareeb aur pichda aadmi dikkat mein hai (There should be change in the country, that is not happening. The poor and backward are suffering).”
Amidst this, another worker, Chaubi, who too was among the five who met the PM commented on the procedure of selection. She claims that selection was random but the police did go to their villages to check if they had a case against them. There were other conditions, she adds. Dr Ravindra Kumar Tyagi, a medical officer of the state Health Department overseeing Sector 3 at Kumbh, was involved in shortlisting the sanitation workers. Per the report, Tyagi said they were given clear instructions about which sanitation workers to pick. “They should be healthy, should not have a police case against them. Some were dropped because they had stained teeth or consumed alcohol or gutkha.”
Also Read: A Week After Modi’s Feet Washing Photo Op, Two Sanitation Workers Die in His Constituency Varanasi