A STUDY ON CHALLENGES FACED BY SANITARY WORKERS

DURING COVID-19

SOCIAL SIGNIFICANT PROJECT REPORT

Submitted by

113220611012 GOKUL R
113220611013 HARI PRIYA L
113220611014 HARITHA H
113220611016 KARTHIKEYAN P
113220611018 KOKILA LAKSHMI P

in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

VELAMMAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE, CHENNAI- 600 066

(An Autonomous Institution, Affiliated to Anna University)

JUNE 2021

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 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this Social Significant Project report is the Bonafide work of Gokul R,
HariPriya L, Haritha H, Karthikeyan P, Kokila Lakshmi P A carried out the work under
my supervision.  Certified further that to the best of my knowledge the work reported herein
does not form part of any other project report or dissertation on the basis of which a degree or
award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any other candidate. 

Signature of Supervisor                                                                  Signature of HOD

SSP Viva Voce held on ……………….

 Signature of Internal                                                                             Signature of External

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 DECLARATION

We hereby declare that this Social Significant Project is the result of a study originally
carried out by us under the guidance of Dr Lekshmi. R.S. This work has not been submitted
earlier, in full or in part for any Diploma or Degree, associate ship, fellowship or any other
similar titles of any other University.

Signature of the Student

Gokul R
Hari Priya L
Haritha H
Karthikeyan P
Kokila Lakshmi P

Place:

Date:

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

 We wish to acknowledge with thanks to the significant contribution given by the
management of our college Chairman Thiru. M.V. Muthuramalingam and our Chief
Executive Officer Thiru. V. Velmurugan, for their intensive support. 

We would like to thank Dr S. Sathish kumar, Principal of Velammal Engineering College,

for giving me this opportunity to do this project. 

We wish to express my gratitude to Dr Revathi, Professor & Head of the Department,

Department of Management Sciences, for his moral support and for his valuable innovative
suggestions, constructive interaction, constant encouragement and unending help that have
enabled me to complete the project. 

We fell to acknowledge my indebtedness and deep sense of gratitude to my project

guide Dr Lekshmi. R. S, Assistant Professor, Department of Management Sciences,
Velammal Engineering College and other faculty members of our Department for rendering
their valuable assistance and guidance to me. 

We am immensely obliged to our friends for their elevating inspiration, encouraging

guidance and kind supervision in the completion of the project.

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CHAPTER TITLE Page No.
1 INTRODUCTION  8
1.1 Swachh Bharath Mission 9
1.2 Sanitation workers and Swachh Bharath 10
1.3 Role of sanitation workers to make Swachh India 11
1.4 Types of sanitation workers 11
1.5 Social status of sanitation workers 12
1.6 Educational status of sanitation workers 13
1.7 Gender composition of sanitation workers 13
1.8 Duties and responsibilities of sanitation workers 14
1.9 Sanitary condition in Chennai 15
1.10 Sanitation workers during covid-19 16
2 PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES 20
2.1 Impact of sanitary workers during COVID 19 situation 20
2.2 Major issues of sanitary workers 21
2.3 Diseases faced by sanitary workers 21
2.4 Safety and health 22
2.5 Financial issues 23
2.6 Legal and institutional 23
2.7 Gender inequalities 24
3 SUGGESTION AND CONCLUSION 26
3.1 Suggestions 31
3.2 Conclusion 35
REFERENCES

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 CHALLENGES FACED BY SANITARY WORKERS DURING
COVID 19

ABSTRACT

India has over 5 million sanitation workers, as suggested by a study by Dalberg1 conducted
in 2018. There are several forms of sanitation work prevalent in urban and rural areas,
including cleaning of household toilets, public and community toilets, institutional toilets,
sewers and septic tanks, drains, railway tracks waste collection and segregation etc. Due to
social discrimination as well as the nature of their employment, sanitation workers lack a
regular and decent pay and usually do not have access to quality health care, employment
benefits, insurance and other social security measures.

Even during the current COVID-19 pandemic, sanitation workers are dealing with waste
collection and management, cleaning of toilets, cleaning or disinfection of public places, and
maintaining sanitation services. Their work requires them to move across different locations,
interact with several people and work in high-risk settings including health care facilities,
quarantine centres and containment zones. The lack of personal protective equipment and
other safety measures at work puts sanitation workers at a high risk of infection. Getting
infected with COVID-19 can lead to an added layer of stigma and discrimination which can
lead to loss of livelihood and difficulties in availing proper health care services. Moreover,
since many of them live in informal settlements, there is also a concern about transmission in
their communities.

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 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION

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1. INTRODUCTION
A sanitation worker (or sanitary worker) is a person responsible for cleaning, maintaining,
operating, or emptying the equipment or technology at any step of the sanitation chain. This
is the definition used in the narrower sense within the WASH sector. More broadly speaking,
sanitation workers may also be involved in cleaning streets, parks, public
spaces, sewers, storm water drains, and public toilets. Another definition is: "The moment an
individual’s waste is outsourced to another, it becomes sanitation work.
Those workers who maintain and empty on-site sanitation systems (e.g. pit latrines, septic
tanks) contribute to functional fecal sludge management systems. It is important to safeguard
the dignity and health of sanitation workers. Without sanitation workers, the Sustainable
Development ("safely managed sanitation for all") cannot be achieved.

1.1 Life of sanitation workers

Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and adequate
treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. A sanitation system includes the
capture, storage, transport, treatment and disposal or reuse of human excreta and wastewater.
Sanitation workers are predominantly employed in city or county government. Most
government organizations employ staff or contract with private firms to perform custodial
and maintenance duties, but those jobs are different than sanitation worker positions.
A report by World Bank, International Labor Organization, Water Aid and WHO from 2019
defines "sanitation workers" to include toilet cleaners and caretakers in domestic, public, and
institutional settings; those who empty pits from pit latrines and vaults of septic tanks and
other fecal sludge handlers; those who clean sewers and manholes; and those who work at
sewage treatment plants and fecal sludge treatment plants and disposal sites.

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1.1 SWACHH BHARATH MISSION
According to Census 2011, India’s urban population is 377 million or 31% of the total
population. These numbers are expected to increase to 600 million by 2031. The Census 2011
also showed that in 4,041 statutory towns, close to eight million households do not have
access to toilets and defecate in the open (7.90 million).Weak sanitation has significant health
costs and untreated sewage from cities is the single biggest source of water resource pollution
in India. This indicates both the scale of the challenge ahead of the Indian cities and the huge
costs incurred from not addressing them.
The Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) emanates from the vision of the Government articulated
in the address of The President of India in his address to the Joint Session of Parliament on
9th June 2014: “We must not tolerate the indignity of homes without toilets and public spaces
littered with garbage. For ensuring hygiene, waste management and sanitation across the
nation, a “Swachh Bharat Mission” will be launched. This will be our tribute to Mahatma
Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary to be celebrated in the year 2019”. SBM is being
implemented by the Ministry of Urban Development (M/o UD) and by the Ministry of
Drinking Water and Sanitation (M/o DWS) for urban and rural areas respectively.
Mission Objectives:
1. Elimination of open defecation
2. Eradication of Manual Scavenging2
3. Modern and Scientific Municipal Solid Waste Management
4. To effect behavioral change regarding healthy sanitation practices
5. Generate awareness about sanitation and its linkage with public health
6. Capacity Augmentation for ULB’s
7. To create an enabling environment for private sector participation in Capex
(Capital expenditure) and Opex (operation and maintenance
Mission components:
The Mission has the following components:
1. Household toilets, including conversion of insanitary latrines into pour-flush latrines;
2. Community toilets
3. Public toilets
4. Solid waste management

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5. IEC & Public Awareness
6. Capacity building and Administrative & Office Expenses (A&OE)
By Public Toilets, it is implied that these are to be provided for the floating population/
General public in places such as markets, train stations, tourist places, near office
Complexes or other public areas where there are considerable number of people passing by.
By Community toilets, it is implied that a shared facility provided by and for a group of
Residents or an entire settlement. Community toilet blocks are used primarily in low-income.
1.2 SANITATION WORKERS AND SWACHH BHARATH

An estimated 1.3 million Dalits (the lowest group in the Hindu caste hierarchy) in India eke
out a living through the most degrading practice of manual scavenging, an occupation which
involves cleaning open toilets and dry latrines and carrying human excreta with bare hands.
In cities and towns, Dalit workers are often employed in the maintenance of sewer systems,
sweeping of roads and collection of garbage. Apart from being employed to clean toilets in
individual households, they are also engaged in cleaning community dry latrines, roadside
open toilets, railway stations, government hospitals and other public places.
The announcement has been widely welcomed by activists and reformers as a much needed
(and long-delayed) ‘social justice’ measure to ameliorate the abysmal living and working
conditions of dalit sanitation workers who occupy the bottom of the complex class and caste
hierarchy in India. Activists in turn have called for greater mechanization, modernization and
extension of sanitation infrastructure in order to ensure that the very condition of possibility
of the deployment of manual labour in such ‘degrading’ and ‘inhuman’ activities is
eradicated.

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1.3 ROLE OF SANITATION WORKERS TO MAKE SWACHH INDIA
 About 0.1 million tons of municipal solid waste is generated in India every day.
That is approximately 36.5 million tons annually.
 Per capita waste generation in major Indian cities ranges from 0.2 Kg to 0.6 Kg.
 Difference in per capita waste generation between lower and higher income groups
range between 180 to 800 gm per day.
 The urban local bodies spend approximately Rs.500 to Rs.1500 per ton on solid
waste four collection, transportation, treatment and disposal.
 About 60-70% of this amount is spent on collection, 20-30% on transportation and
less than 5% on final disposal.
 Waste collection efficiency in Indian cities ranges from 50% to 90%.
Out of the total municipal waste collected, on an average 94% is dumped on land and
5% is composted.
 Between 2000 and 2025 the waste composition of Indian garbage will undergo the
following changes:

 Organic Waste will go up from 40 percent to 60 percent

 Plastic will rise from 4% to 6%
 Metal will escalate from 1% to 4%
 Glass will increase from 2% to 3%
 Paper will climb from 5% to 15%
 Others (ash, sand, grit) will decrease from 47% to 12%

1.4 TYPES OF SANITATION WORKERS

Sanitation workers in India are usually engaged in one of three ways they are
 PERMANENT STAFF
Permanent workers as those who are employed full-time by government or local bodies and
have access to employment related entitlements from their employers.
 CONTRACTUAL WORKERS
Contractual workers are either on a periodic/ short-term contract with the government directly
or engaged through a third-party agency. Here while their work has a formal nature, they may
not form direct liability to the agency/individual for which they work.

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 1.4 Types of contractual workers
 INFORMAL WORKERS
Informal workers are those who engage in the work without any formal association with the
employers, institutions or households, and include categories such as dry latrine cleaners,
waste/ rag pickers and proxy workers (who work on behalf of a formal worker without any
documentary evidence).
1.5 SOCIAL STATUS OF SANITARY WORKERS

Though those who have taken up the profession of sweeping and scavenging belong mostly
to the scheduled caste community, who are untouchables in the eyes of other sections of
Hindu community, the sweepers and scavengers themselves are considered ‗Untouchables‘
by the other sections of scheduled castes. In many parts of the state the sweepers and
scavengers are forced to live separately away from other sections of scheduled castes because
of the stigma attached to the profession. Unwanted and undesired by their own communities
the sweepers and scavengers have given up all hopes and have accepted their present
degeneration as ordained by destiny. This social segregation from their own brethren has
made them develop a reticent outlook on life.

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 1.6 Status of sanitary workers

1.6 EDUCATIONAL STATUS OF SANITARY WORKERS

One of the reasons for the utter backwardness of sweepers and scavengers is lack of
education. There are reasons for this sorry state of affairs. From the Vedic times these people
were never allowed to enter seats of learning, because the rigid caste system which existed
then made education the sole monopoly of only a few people at the top of social hierarchy.
Secondly, they had also created a fear complex in the minds of Scheduled Castes that it was
sinful either to hear or read the sacred texts. The scheduled castes who believed in this
superstition kept away from the seats of learning. So this illiteracy is several centuries old. It
is a happy augury that most of the scheduled castes have now realized that education alone is
the right kind of passport to all happiness and prosperity in life.

1.7 GENDER COMPOSITION OF SANITATION WORKERS

Sanitation work in India has a broad spectrum. To capture the gender divide along the ladder
of technology, the table on the right describes the type of work and the corresponding gender
asymmetry and the level of technology needed to complete the work. However, male
sanitation workers do work in dire situations. Deaths of male workers in the sewers and septic
tanks of India are very common, causing little shock or outrage to society though they
continue to make headlines.

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Typically, only one-third of such deaths get compensated; because of high transaction costs
related to a large bureaucracy and rampant corruption, the compensation rarely reaches the
widow of the sanitation worker. Often it is appropriated by a male relative of the deceased. If
the worker was a direct employee of the city, his widow is offered a job related to sanitation
work. Most widows take these jobs because housing is provided as an additional benefit for
the family. In cities like Mumbai, many widows are forced to earn a livelihood as sanitation
workers due to the high housing costs and minimal job prospects.
1.8 DUTIES AND RESPONSIBLITIES OF SANITATION WORKERS

 Use approved chemicals to disinfect surfaces.

 Disassemble, sanitize, and reassemble food processing equipment.
 Dispose of waste along the assembly line.
 Sweep and mop the floors.
 Dust ventilation ducts to ensure proper airflow.
 Refill soap and hand towels in the bathrooms

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 1.8 Duties and responsiblities
1.9 SANITARY CONDITION IN CHENNAI
Sanitary Workers before 1991-92 they were doing all function given by sanitary development
of Municipal Corporation. After 1991-92 this system was abolished by government of India.
But in 1995 it was implemented in few places, or Districts in Tamil Nadu. Now nowhere this
system prevails like night soil removal work, in each door to door swelling. They are doing
only official function of municipal sanitary workers a sweeping, rubbish collection, drainage
cleaning like these function. If any individual privately wishers to clean his swelling latrines,
Sanitary workers has the option whether to go or not.
Throughout country the conditions of scavenger is pitiable and needs more attention to
improve their socio-economic status. Scavenger name was replaced by sanitary workers as
Government order was called from 1995. In Tamil Nadu after independence especially the
government introduced all community introduced all community may joined in this
occupation do work properly. They ask the Scheduled Caste instead people to work in their
places and pay them an amount. Now a day some Government of offices still practice this
system and this system should be abolished.
Among the Scheduled Caste those who are engaged in unclear occupation take sweeping and
scavenging and those who are bonded labours, benefited tribes and nomadic tribes are
classified as vulnerable group. The Government of India emphasises that special attention,
should be paid for the socio-economic development to those group. To make it more practical
the effort of the state Government in this attention are taken into account dividing the
assistance of special centre to the status.

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1.10 SANITATION WORKERS DURING COVID-19
The lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic witnessed an unprecedented baulk in all kinds
of work on one hand and highlighted the essentiality of healthcare, relief-care and sanitation
work on the other. From day one of the lockdown sanitation work was categorised as
essential service and sanitation workers have continued to clean our neighbourhoods, public
spaces, sewer lines, drainages, onsite septic tanks, etc. In recent time, several policy measures
have been initiated by the government. However, a discernible improvement in the lives and
working conditions of over five million sanitation workers would require translation of these
policy initiatives into concrete actions.
In this pandemic time, many sanitation workers lacked information about the personal
hygiene and personal protective equipment. More generally, a large section of them, being
outsourced and contracted, continued to suffer from wage insecurity, inadequate or no health
insurance, and terrible mental agony. In India, sanitation work being largely caste-based, the
workers face atrocious discrimination in the society. The women sanitation workers, who
constitute half of the sanitation work force, often face gender-based discriminations including
sexual harassments.
A YEAR INTO PANDAMIC, CHENNAI’S SANITATION WORKERS STILL DON’T
HAVE THE RIGHT GEAR

In the second wave, the practice of distributing safety gear to sanitation workers has reduced.
A PPE kit might be a distant dream as TNM spoke to several conservancy workers across the
15 zones of Chennai Corporation, who are not even getting proper masks and gloves to pick

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up waste. “Right now, cases are too high. The GCC is so busy that waste collection,
understandably, takes a backseat”. According to a study Hundreds of sanitation workers in
Chennai, who are on the frontlines of the COVID-19 battle. And while they deal with
logistical nightmares and systemic issues, improper waste disposal from our homes from the
homes which have COVID-19 patients is an added risk.

Demand for safety gear

The Madras Corporation Red Flag Union, a labour union for the Chennai’s Corporation’s
permanent staff, has been demanding regular distribution of masks and gloves for sanitation
workers since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. “Our members have been collecting
waste from COVID-19 houses, sometimes without gloves. We had asked for the GCC to
form separate teams of civic workers for COVID-19 waste collection from houses in every
division, and to provide these sanitation workers with PPE kits. It hasn’t happened yet,” says
Srinivasulu, general secretary of the Red Flag Union.emand for safety gear.

Tamil Nadu is one of those states which have witnessed a number of deaths among sanitation
workers due to COVID-19. In July last year, there were reports that six Chennai sanitation
workers had succumbed to the novel coronavirus. It was also pointed out that since these
deaths were not recorded as COVID-19 deaths, the families of the deceased were not eligible
for the Rs 50 lakh compensation and job for an immediate family member which the Chennai
corporation had announced for COVID-19-related deaths. Though the Madras Corporation
Red Flag Union urged compensation for them saying they had “contracted the infection
during the work”, and the hospital details of these patients showed that they tested positive

17
for the coronavirus while they were on duty, as per the reports they have not received any
compensation.

1.11 Categories of sanitation workers in pandemic situation

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 CHAPTER II
PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES

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2. PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES

2.1 IMPACT OF SANITARY WORKERS DURING COVID SITUATION:

What does it mean if a sanitation worker gets infected? From cleaning streets to lifting,
dumping garbage, emptying septic tanks handling biohazards, sanitation workers have been
performing their duties without adequate safety kits, including sanitizers and masks.
Sanitation workers reside mostly in informal settlements / slums with high population
density. They don’t, in most cases, have toilets and hence resort to community / public toilets
or, in the worst cases scenario, are obligated to open defecate.

2.1 Impact of sanitary workers

So how will COVID-19 be contained in informal settlements / slums or even in densely

populated areas / wards / cities in India under such circumstances?

 There are five million sanitation workers in India. Even if 0.001 per cent of this
population is infected, it will equate to 500 workers. But in reality, 500 families could
be infected (2,500 people in total if each family has five members), if not they are not
adequately quarantined
 Here is a brief summary of our efforts in collating information to protect sanitation
workers on ground. ULBs can consider Union government issued advisory and
guidelines and World Health Organisation guidance for sanitation workers, along with
CSE’s efforts in protecting sanitation worker

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2.2 MAJOR ISSUES OF SANITATION WORKERS

1. Diseases faced by sanitation workers

2. Healthy and safety issue faced by sanitation workers

3. Financial issues faced by sanitation workers

2.2 Workers issues of sanitation

2.3 DISEASES FACED BY SANITATION WORKERS:

Sanitary workers are prone to face certain health problems due to their working condition.
The physiological health issues include injuries, gastrointestinal disorders, musculoskeletal
disorders, respiratory disorders, dermatological disorders, ophthalmic disorders and
infections such as gastroenteritis, E. One specific disease that concerns workers in sewers is
Leptospirosis, spread through contact with rat urine. The most important exposure point is
during the emptying of container based facilities were pathogen concentrations in the waste
are the highest. Workers are more likely to wear protective gear if they are given a choice of
suitable clothing.

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2.4 SAFETY AND HEALTH:

The challenges faced by sanitation workers can be categorized as follows: occupational safety
and health, legal and institutional issues, financial insecurity, and social issues.

Sanitation workers are at an increased risk of becoming ill from waterborne diseases. To
reduce this risk and protect against illness, such as diarrheal, safety measures should be put in
place for workers and employers.

Occupational safety and health issues include

 Diseases related to contact with the excreta

 Injuries related to the physical effort of extracting and transporting the waste,
including falls from height

 Injuries related to cuts from non-fecal waste (e.g. glass or needles) disposed of down
the toilet

 The dangers of working in confined spaces, including lack of oxygen

2.3 Health issues of sanitation workers

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2.5 FINANCIAL ISSUES:

The reduced demand for work and loss of livelihoods has had a direct impact on the earnings
of sanitation workers. Around one-third workers reported a reduction in incomes between 12
to 95%. Of those who reported income loss, 67% were informal workers. Moreover, 20% of
sanitation workers reported that their payments were delayed since the lockdown was
imposed.

As many as 28% of workers had to rely on borrowings to deal with financial constraints,
with two-thirds of these being informal workers, which may have pushed them into further
debt. Another 12% of workers shared that if such a situation continues, they would consider
borrowing money in the near future.

Accessing basic necessities was another challenge for many. As many as 40% of workers
faced challenges in meeting their day-to-day expenses for groceries or for other financial
purposes like loan repayments, medical expenditure etc. Two sanitation workers also
responded that while they had savings in bank accounts, they were unable to withdraw money
from banks as well as ATMs, and thus had to face a cash crunch. Other than financial
reasons, a few sanitation workers reported difficulties in buying groceries during the
lockdown, due to reasons such as shops being closed, limited opening hours or distance from
their place of residence.

Alternative livelihoods:

Owing to the financial challenges and uncertainties during the COVID-19 pandemic, 26% of
sanitation workers expressed interest in exploring alternative sources of livelihood in the near
future. The options mentioned included grocery stores, fish farming, driving, tailoring,
photography, etc. However, they also mentioned various potential constraints in starting and
operationalizing these livelihood options, such as access to capital and assets, market
demand, skillset, etc

2.6 LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL:

In many development countries, sanitation workers often have to work with weak legal
protection, missing or weak standard operating procedures, weak law enforcement and few
policies protecting their rights and health.

The safety of sanitation workers is influenced by:

● · Design and construction of the toilet or other piece of sanitation infrastructure

● · Pressure by the customer

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 ● · Pressure by the employer
● · Materials and equipment available to do the job

2.7 GENDER INEQUALITIES:

Additional challenges for female sanitation workers

The higher representation of female sanitation workers among the informal workforce meant
that women were disproportionately impacted not only by adverse shocks to income and
livelihood, but were also less prepared to cope due to lower coverage under employment
benefits, insurance and other support measures Many women also faced additional workload
during the pandemic, which caused difficulties in handling household responsibilities and
taking care of children. .Given the pandemic situation, it was not possible for many women to
take their children along to work due to lockdown restrictions and COVID-19 risk

Some women also reported added challenges during menstruation, as public toilets were
closed due to the lockdown, thereby leading to difficulties in accessing sanitation facilities.
Moreover, the increased workload and commute during the lockdown also led to physical
discomfort during menstruation.

2.5 Challenges faced by women sanitary workers

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 CHAPTER III
SUGGESTION AND CONCLUSION

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3. SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION
 Understanding the Problems of India's Sanitation Workers

While no one can argue that this is the right direction for India to be moving towards, all is
not well. Glaring in its omission in formal planning is any meaningful focus on the harsh
realities of the millions of sanitation workers who work across the sanitation value chain in
urban and rural India, and are key to making the programme a success. This problem of
“manual scavenging” as it is commonly called, is not new and is deeply rooted in India’s
caste system, which assigns duties such as the cleaning of human faecal waste to people born
in the lowest sub-castes of the Dalit community.

Attention has been brought to this issue for many decades: Leaders and statesmen such as
Mahatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar have commented on this and proposed cleaning toilets.
However, these practices continue both in rural India, where dry latrines still get cleaned,
and, over the last few decades, in urban India, where men and women physically get inside
sewer networks and septic tanks to clean blockages despite extreme hazards and risks. There
are deaths daily, reported and unreported, and severe social stigma is a constant companion.

Thanks to efforts by the media and committed organisations in the recent past, there has been
frequent coverage, but this is not translating into official policy, programme or budgets. For
the most part, there has been a quiet acceptance and a turning away from this aspect of the
Indian sanitation programme. With the exception of outrage displayed by individuals such as
Bezwada Wilson and the media, and reactionary announcements and policies by the
government, there hasn’t been much structured problem-solving for this. All sanitation
workers are still called “manual scavengers” and there isn’t a nuanced understanding of the
diversity of sanitation work, different personas of people who work as sanitation workers and
the kinds of solutions that are likely to be sustainably effective. Most importantly, there are
very few viable alternatives.

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  Sanitation workers present a multi-faceted challenge

3.2 Multi faced challenges

1) Firstly, there are nine kinds of sanitation work that exist across the sanitation value
chain in urban and rural India. These range from the cleaning of septic tanks to
maintaining and troubleshooting sewer networks in urban areas, cleaning and
maintaining public and community toilets, cleaning household latrines, cleaning
public drains that often have faecal waste along with other hazardous materials. These
types of sanitation work vary significantly on the types of risks that workers
encounter, the mode of employment – government, contractual, or daily wage based –
and the remuneration. Any strategy to improve the situation of sanitation workers
must take into account this diversity.

2. Across these nine types of work, we estimate that there are approximately five million
sanitation workers engaged either full time or part time work. This includes about two million
workers who are engaged in ‘high risk’ work types such as septic tank cleaning, sewer
cleaning, public toilet cleaning and drain cleaning, whereas three million workers primarily
clean household toilets as domestic help.

27
3. These workers work both in urban and rural India in a 40-60 ratio. Most urban
workers are occupied in drain cleaning whereas most rural workers work in school toilets and
also household toilets. Men and women are differently occupied across these nine kinds of
sanitation work. Most men work as sewer cleaners and septic tank cleaners, whereas most
women are occupied in latrine, railways and school toilet cleaning. Women working in
cleaning railway tracks or public drains face special challenges because of work timings (at
night) and the lack of empathetic female supervisors as well as easy access to restroom
facilities.

4. A range of interventions and innovations are needed to address this challenge and our
series will describe these in detail. However, at the highest level, they fall in four different
buckets.

 Solutions focused on entry into sanitation work: These solutions include having
formal ID cards, better contract design.
 Solutions focused “on the job” that make the work safer, more dignified and more
rewarding: These include better safety equipment, mechanisms for redressal of
complaints.
 Solutions focused on “progression from sanitation work” including creating
entrepreneurial opportunities, better access to finance.
 And finally, cross cutting solutions that involve easing access to special benefits,
regulatory revisions, significantly larger budgets.

5. Finally, the roadmap to improving this situation for sanitation workers in India will
involve a combination of proactive piloting of solutions across cities and rural locations and
an extensive sharing of lessons between stakeholders. It will also require significant increase
in budgets focused on sanitation worker safety within governments and larger budgets
focused on innovation for sanitation worker safety, innovation within donors and
philanthropic actors. And crucially, it will require ongoing attention in the public sphere
through media events and civic engagement.

 Health and safety of sanitation workers during the pandemic

The Corona pandemic has reiterated the importance of WASH in overall wellbeing. The
multitude of discussions organised since the onset of the pandemic have not only spelt out the

28
preventive power of WASH in curtailing the spread of infectious diseases (such as COVID-
19) but also placed it at the centre of broader development issues. The pandemic has created
the opportunity for the WASH sector to actively engage in topics of basic human rights and
labour rights. Particularly referring to the need to focus on the health, safety and livelihoods
of sanitation workers.

 Frontline services

Sanitation workers are a key part of the WASH system. COVID-19 has highlighted the
critical role sanitation workers play in maintaining overall hygiene – collection, handling
and/or disposal of solid and liquid waste (including faecal waste), cleaning of streets and
drains. They are at the frontline of providing essential services, yet their contribution goes
unrecognised and little is done for their protection and wellbeing. They face high
occupational risks and hazards, livelihoods and financial insecurity as well as being subjected
to social discrimination and stigma. They are among the most vulnerable workers facing the
biggest risk of contamination.

 Employment arrangements

It is important to acknowledge sanitation workers as a key part of local bodies (such as Urban
Local Bodies). Without sanitation workers, engaged in solid waste or faecal waste
management, the public health situation in an urban settlement would be extremely poor.
Sanitation workers perform the critical function of regular cleaning that is required for
communities to function in a healthy manner. However, in terms of employment arrangement
most (3/4th as per a study by WaterAid India and Urban Management Centre) are either
contractually or informally employed. Informal employment is higher among female than
male sanitation workers. Such employment arrangements have a direct bearing on the kind of
benefits they receive as well as their livelihood and financial security.

 Health support

Sanitation work is precarious work and COVID-19 has increased the health risks faced by
sanitation workers, in the absence of availability of suitable Personal Protection Equipment
(PPE), lack of waste segregation followed by waste producers (including the residents of the
city), and continuation of manual scavenging. Being essential workers, sanitation workers

29
have had to regularly provide their services to ensure the functioning of the city. Therefore,
provision of nutritional and health support to these workers is crucial. The high occupational
health hazard associated with such work makes it necessary that sanitation workers receive
social security benefits such as life and health insurance, and pension. Further, the degree of
social stigma associated with this work necessitates that they also receive housing support. It
is often noted that while sanitation workers work hard to keep the city clean, they have to stay
at the periphery, with poor services. The poor habitation conditions and hazardous occupation
conditions necessitate that child care facilities are also made available to them. It is important
to note, however, that employment arrangements influence the kind of social security benefits
that the workers receive.

The study further revealed that sanitation workers often did not use the PPE kit due to issues
related to discomfort, fitting and grip. Therefore, it is critical that PPE gear is designed taking
into consideration specific needs of the workers.

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3.1 SUGGESTION OF THE STUDY

Regional actors need to recognise and highlight the critical role sanitation workers play in
current times and the need to protect their rights. Specifically, we propose:

 Regional and global donors and financial institutions review their existing and
planned urban investment projects to integrate considerations of sanitation workers,
and ensure their health, safety and dignity during the COVID-19 pandemic and
beyond.
 Regional and national offices of the International Labour Organisation to support
workers’ representation and engagement with authorities, and provide guidelines and
support to member countries to identify and support informal workers.
 The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to create an
emergency fund which will provide emergency support to the safety and welfare of
sanitation workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

National governments (or sub-national governments where relevant) need to set up the
frameworks and make the required finances available to protect sanitation workers.
Specifically, we suggest national governments:

 Develop COVID-19-specific guidelines and protocols for solid waste, sanitation and
cleaning work, outlining the necessary health and safety measures and the roles and
responsibilities of employers, municipalities, and so on. It should include
recommended PPE for different categories of workers, and considerations on waste
management settings with COVID-19 patients (hospitals, quarantine centres and
households etc.).
 Design a comprehensive safety net and welfare programme in recognition of the
services workers are providing during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring informal
workers are included and mainstreaming gender considerations.
 Put in place strategies to urgently enhance access to WASH in sanitation workers’
‘colonies’ and settlements.
 Provide earmarked funds to support these measures and ensure they are made rapidly
available to sub-national and municipal levels.

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Municipal authorities (and town and local authorities), along with private employers, need
to effectively implement the actions that will make a difference to the conditions in which
sanitation workers operate. We recommend they:

 Provide hand washing stations with soap and water in workplaces, along with
adequate supply of hand sanitizers.
 Ensure adequate supply of PPE for all workers, particularly those at risk of
encountering COVID-19 patients, such as cleaners in healthcare facilities.
 Provide COVID-19-specific training on health and safety measures, using physically
distanced means (small batches, videos, phone-based etc.).
 Provide oversight of the implementation of health and safety measures through
regular checks, and worker and client feedback mechanisms.
 Organise testing, medical check-ups and thermal screening of workers, with clear
referral, quarantine periods or isolation protocols for suspected cases. Provide health
insurance for all workers – including contractual and daily wage workers – as well as
risk bonuses and financial compensation for infected workers.

Civil society, private sector, research institutions and development partners also
need to play their part. Primarily, we suggest they:

 Support research and innovation on sanitation work, such as the development of PPE
adapted to better suit hot climates.

 Raise awareness about the public service of sanitation workers and challenge
perceptions and drivers of stigma and discrimination.

 Support the long-term formalisation of sanitation work, including the support of

worker unions, worker-owned enterprises and professional associations.

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 SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength:

 Health camps & counseling sessions

 residents across the city help sanitary workers and others who serve the society by
providing them with masks and hand sanitizers.
 The Tamil Nadu government announced early disbursement of two months’
wages for sanitation worker employees, as a special pay package and provision of
personal protective equipment including masks and gloves.
 The Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Programme (TNUSSP), supports the
government of Tamil Nadu (GoTN) in making improvements along the entire
sanitation chain in cities.
 Help from various NGOs.

Weakness:

 Faced partial resumption of work, income reduction, payment delays, challenges in

meeting day-to-day necessities which led to borrowing by some to deal with financial
constraints.
 a loss of income during the lockdown being compounded by a rise in food prices and
additional expenditures such as for safety gears.
 an uneven distribution of work with sanitation workers in hospitals reported having to
work for longer shifts and increased working hours, which was usually
uncompensated and domestic waste collectors, office cleaner and workers in trucks
carrying wastes reporting a reduced workload.
 Only 35% of the workers had insurance coverage and informal workers were fully
excluded from such coverage or government provisions for sanitation workers, except
for some general welfare measures.
 lower-income security and limited social welfare coverage.

33
Opportunities:

 Sanitation workers have gained a Higher level of respect in the society for the first
time.
 Honored as 'Saviors' by the people for the work which they do.
 People have realized the importance of sanitation workers.

Threat:

 The unsafe disposal of face masks

 People, living in individual houses, dump the wastes in the dustbin, without
segregating them.
 Caste based complex and vulnerable intersection.
 Facing extreme health hazards and safety risks and receive a limited amount of
rehabilitation support.
 lack of proper data on deaths and lives of sanitation workers showcases the treatment
accorded to them by our system, institutions and individuals

34
3.2 CONCLUSION

Sanitation workers are already some of the most marginalized groups in society often
working in conditions that are hazardous and stigmatizing, with little to no equipment and
low income. These essential public workers have been affected by the coronavirus
pandemic in many different ways, with some nuances depending on the type of job they
do and level of formality they work at. The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a direct
impact on the livelihoods of these workers – in the worst-case scenarios; workers have
reported losing all of their income (especially informal female workers, such as cleaners
of homes, offices and dry latrines). In the best-case scenarios, most of the sanitation
workers have been able to retain work opportunities, but there are also cases of having to
work longer shifts without compensation, especially in the health facilities. This has been
compounded by an increase in daily expenses. Within the broader context, where workers
from many sectors have lost all their livelihoods during the lockdown, the impact on the
financial security of most sanitation workers has been comparatively limited.

This occupation comes at the price of heightened health risks, among workers who were
already working in dangerous surroundings with high risks of mortality. Those working
in hospitals or quarantine centers are also at high risk. This is compounded by the fact
that they tend to live in communities with poor access to WASH services. Due to the fear
of COVID-19 spreading, some workers have faced pressure from neighbors and
communities to stay away. On the other hand, workers have reported increased
self-respect for the critical role they are playing in these difficult times which is
sometimes also being recognized by employers and citizens, despite the long-standing
caste-based and religious-based discrimination these workers often face.

35
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workers_in_a_zone_of_Greater_Chennai_Corporation_Tamil_Nadu_India/citatio
n/download

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