PRACTICE OF ETIQUETTE THROUGH SUFFOCATION – A CRITICAL STUDY ON

MANUAL SCAVENGERS IN INDIA AND A WAY FORWARD

INTRODUCTION:

Manual scavenging is an inhumane and degrading practice in India for decades together that
exists in the human civilization as an invisible work. Manual scavenging and scavengers have
never gained focus socially, economically or otherwise. Scavenging, though important for the
society in terms of hygiene, the process carried out by humans is complete violation of human
rights and dehumanizing practice that is still prevalent and unvoiced in India. The act of human
removal of excreta from dry pit latrines can be worst form of harassment and a degrading act
towards a human whose rights and dignity are at direct attack by the society. A father or mother
of some child does an act that our father or mother could not even imagine to do but the manual
scavengers themselves feel helpless and trapped into.

The denial of equal status, opportunity, liberty and dignity in a society that expresses concern
over the development of technology and adoption of preamble to treat all citizens equally is
deliberately irony. Manual scavenging in India is officially defined as ‘lifting and removal of
human excreta manually’, at private homes and toilets maintained by municipal authorities1.
Many scavengers are similarly employed to collect, carry, and dispose excreta from seers, septic
tanks, drains and railway tracks. According to official data on manual scavenger’s deaths, Tamil
Nadu has the highest number of deaths2. In India the practice of manual scavenging is associated
to the caste system and those at the edges of the social order is forced to do manual scavenging.
It can be seen as a modern way of following Untouchability. About 98% of the people involved
in manual scavenging ate women and Dalits3. And also as per the research, there are 1.2 million
manual scavengers in India where 95-98 percent are women who belong to certain castes that are
ordered least socially and from mister and dome castes.4

1
Asian Human Rights Commission
2
Statista Research Department,“Manual Scavengers deaths in India 1993-2020”.
3
https://www.safaikarmachariandolan.org/
4
2020 Economic and political weekly (EPW)
AIM AND OBJECTIVE O THE STUDY:

The aim is to understand the context of manual scavenging, their abusive conditions and the
magnitude of degradation of scavengers in India and to critically analyse the overall lacuna in the
implementation of the legal framework and the way forward.

HYPOTHESIS:

1. Manual scavenging is the banality of an everyday crime, a stigma and a stinking legacy
of suffocation.
2. Ignoring the lives of manual scavengers is scourge and a clear denial of equality and
dignity down the drain.
3. The Rehabilitation of manual scavengers is a potrayed myth in the legal framework that
cannot bridge the gap between demand and implementation in reality

REVEW OF LITERATURE:

REPORTS AND ARTICLES:

A more recent report of the Sub-Group on Safai Karamcharis identified manual scavengers,
sewer workers, and sanitation workers as the most vulnerable.5 The Sub-Group calls for total
eradication of the practice of manual scavenging, strict implementation of all labour laws in the
country, adequate provisions for workplace safety. In addition to committee reports, reports on
schemes at the national and state-level also identify poor technology as the source of manual
scavenging.

An article by Mohammed Shahid focuses on the direct cultural, and structural violence suffered
by manual scavengers6. He demonstrates how the culture around caste is used to justify structural
violence against manual scavengers. For example, he cites the common cultural misconception
that families engaged in manual scavenging could not undertake jobs requiring hard labour and
skilled expertise and that manual scavenging provides them easy money. This results in a

5
Prepared for 11th five year plan, 2007
6
Shahid, Mohd. (2015). Manual Scavenging: Issues of Caste, Culture and Violence. Available at
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279170646_Manual_Scavenging_Issues_of_Caste_Culture_and_Violence
structural violence where they are forced back into sanitation jobs. He lists 10 main points that
arose from his discussion on direct violence with manual scavengers and point 7 mentions that
“Manual scavengers are subject to untouchability and what is worse that they are made to
enforce it”. The article aims to map ho manual scavenging sustains on the relationship built
around gender, caste and culture.

An editorial in the Economic & Political Weekly journal reports on the deplorable status of
working condition of sewer workers in Bombay and provides some of the earliest links between
the health and safety of sewer workers7. While manual scavenging is not exclusively defined, the
editor specifies the conditions of work are explicitly – the size of the manholes, the manner in
which the workers are clothed (no clothing, let alone safety wear), and the marked absence of
safety gear. The editor reports injuries such as burns, choking, and breathlessness. This is
compounded by the lack of treatment which tended to exacerbate these conditions.

In the article "Dying to keep city sewers clean”8 the nature of work, procedure of work and
working conditions of the sewer workers employed by Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC) is assessed to understand its effect on their health. For this study, 200 sewer workers
were interviewed. Most of them were aged between 25-29 years. The study findings reveal that
sewer workers relied on lead paper test and burning candle test as pre-entry checks. They entered
sewer, completely bare except a pair of shorts. They worked in pitch darkness without any
headlamps. One fourth of the workers reported injuries at work. 67% of the workers interviewed
complained that they experience choking, breathlessness and severe burning and redness of eye
after every stint in the manhole. 44% complained of diminished vision. Additionally, it was also
reported that sewer divers had to submerge themselves completely to clear water choke. They
were not provided any appropriate clothing or breathing apparatus for the task. The paper reveals
that these workers endured occupational hazards varying from insomnia due to continuous night
shift from 10 in the night, to 5 in the morning, to death due to exposure to poisonous gas,
drowning and sinking.

7
https://www.epw.in/journal/1988/40/roots-specials/dying-keep-city-sewers-clean.html
8
1988. "Dying to keep city sewers clean." Economic and Political Weekly
Also in an article “Beginning of the end”9 manual scavenging are recognized as the worst form
of untouchability under which specific communities are forced to carry excreta, clean dry latrines
and sewers. It highlights Indian railways as one of the larger employers of manual scavenger. It
points out that often, it is incorrectly argued that economic development itself accelerates
modernization which would lead to eradication of the practice of manual scavenging.

Hidden Apartheid: Caste discrimination against India’s “Untouchables”- This report was
produced as a “shadow report” to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination (CERD).10 The report examines the issue of caste based discrimination in India.
It describes the practice of “untouchability” as the imposition of social disabilities on persons
due to birth in certain castes. It recognises that Dalits are forced to work in “polluting” and
degrading occupations like manual scavenging and septic tank cleaning. It defines “manual
scavenging” as a practice by which Dalits remove excreta from public and private dry pit latrines
and carry them to dumping grounds and disposal sites. It is both caste based and hereditary
occupation. The report states that manual scavengers are routinely exposed to both human and
animal waste without the protection of masks, uniforms, gloves, shoes, appropriate buckets, and
mops. This has severe impact on their health. Report findings reveal that majority of scavengers
suffer from anaemia, diarrhoea and vomiting. 62% suffer from respiratory diseases, 32% suffer
from skin diseases, and 23% suffer from trachoma which leads to blindness. Additionally, it also
acknowledges that cleaning of septic tanks and sewers by scavengers without any protective gear
has led to their deaths.

In “The Many Omissions of a Concept: Discrimination amongst Scheduled Castes”11, a critical

review of contemporary anti caste, Dalit revolutionary movements that have overlooked the
concerns of castes engaged in sanitation work is commented. It informs that under the British
administration, agricultural workers from rural areas and belonging to menial castes migrated to
urban spaces. These workers were predominantly employed in sanitation work, privately as well
as under Municipal Corporations. In the present scenario, the paper highlights that sanitation

9
2010. “Beginning of the end”. Economic and Political Weekly
10
Barbour,S.T., T.Palikovic, J.Shah and S. Narula. 2007. Hidden Apartheid: Caste discrimination against India’s
“Untouchables” [Shadow Report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)]. New
Delhi: Centre for Human Rights and Global Justice and Human Rights Watch
11
Bathran, R. 2016. “The Many Omissions of a Concept: Discrimination amongst Scheduled Castes”. Economic &
Political Weekly.
workers, on account of not being the original inhabitants in most states, lack mobilization. This is
also suggested to be one of the reasons behind the exclusion of several castes from the Schedule
Castes list which engage in manual scavenging. Further, the author draws attention to a survey
on untouchability conducted in by the Navsarjan Trust in rural Gujarat. The survey was
conducted across 1589 villages and it listed down 99 different forms of untouchability practiced
among the Scheduled Castes. These included reservations on inter-caste marriage as well as
dining. The author invokes these findings to demonstrate caste-based distinction and
discrimination rife within the Dalit community. The case of Arunthatiyars in Tamil Nadu and
Kerala is also discussed, who have suffered neglect and even violent attacks by the Dalit
movements in the states.

The paper “Sewers and Sewerage Workers in India” 12 argues that the focus on mechanization of
sewerage work does not address the issue of securing dignified livelihoods for workers who are
engaged to clean sewers. It presents a historical account to explain the manner in which the Caste
system exerted influence on sewerage system in India, with regards to the latter’s cleaning
procedures as well as design. The underground sewerage network was introduced in India during
the colonial period and was envisaged to be cleaned only by machines, as per the author. It was
presupposed that this “modern” technology would alleviate the working conditions of sanitation
workers from the hitherto used open cess-pools and pits (which included contact with human
excreta). Within a few years of its introduction, workers belonging to the Dalit castes were
widely engaged to clean sewers and the Caste system made its inroads into the sewer technology,
as discussed in the article. Further, designing norms of manholes were changed and made big
enough to allow the entry of workers to remove blockages manually. Therefore, as the author
demonstrates, the sewer network in India is embedded within a broader socio-economic context,
ordered around the Caste system. It concludes by pointing out that a technology-based solution,
like mechanization of sewerage work, will fail to address the social and political conditions
which dictate the experiences of Dalit labourers engaged in sewerage work.

12
Batra, L. 2012. “Sewers and Sewerage Workers in India”
Cleaning Human Waste: Manual Scavenging,Caste and Discrimination in India13 states that the
practice manually cleaning of excrement from private and public dry toilets and open drains
exists in several parts of South Asia. Manual scavengers, collect human excreta daily, and carry
it as head loads, in cane baskets for disposal. The report describes that the term “Bhangi” is used
as a derogatory term to refer to people from the caste traditionally responsible for manual
scavenging and the term “Dalit” is used to refer to “untouchables”. Women from this caste
usually clean dry toilets in homes, while men do the more physically demanding cleaning of
sewers and septic tanks. The report describes the barriers people face in leaving manual
scavenging, including threats of harassment, violence, eviction, withholding of wages. It put
forwards a set of recommendations for the government including the need to identify and
rehabilitate all individuals currently engaged in manual scavenging it recommends that officials
take immediate steps to stop communities from being coerced into the practice of manual
scavenging, and strict enforcement of the law against local government officials who employ
people to work as manual scavengers.

In the book “The politics of sanitation in India”, the term “scavenger” is used to refer to a person
employed to manually clean dry latrines. The author argues that both scavengers and sweepers
fall under the broader category of “Bhangi”. This term is applied as an occupational descriptive
term, to refer to scavenging communities among Muslims, Sikhs, Neo-Buddhists or Christian.
She states that scavengers and sweepers employed by municipal authorities are referred as “safai
karamcharis”, and there exists a hierarchy among them. Sweepers consider themselves superior
to scavengers as they do not carry human excreta, and municipal scavengers consider themselves
to be superior than those who service private latrines, because they receive pension. She further
differentiates between dry sweepers (those who clean roads, factories, housing complexes and
generally dispose of solid waste) and wet sweepers (who clean sewer, septic tanks and cesspools)
without any protective gear. Women are considered to be at the bottom of the hierarchy, as they
are generally employed to scavenge private latrines. They are not considered strong enough to do
the heavy lifting associated with mechanised garbage collection or sewer cleaning.

13
Bhattarjee, Shikha Silliman. 2014. Cleaning Human Waste: “Manual Scavenging”, Caste, and Discrimination in
India. edited by Meenakshi Ganguly. New Delhi: Human Rights Watch.
The report “Septage Management in Urban India”14 recommends for the recognition of manual
cleaning of septic tanks as “manual scavenging” which was left out under the 1993 Act. The
term, “manual scavengers”, was limited to workers who cleaned dry latrines under the Act. It
also recommends for a policy on management of “septage” defined as fecal sludge removed from
on-site sanitation systems, like pit latrines and septic tanks. It highlights that sanitation workers
are engaged to manually clean septic tanks and the activity poses several health hazards for the
workers.

In "Clean India, Unclean Indians beyond the Bhim Yatra"15 the assumption that caste-based
discrimination loses its stronghold in urban areas, because they provide opportunities for better
income as well as anonymity of social backgrounds to its inhabitants is contradicted and subtle
forms of caste-based distinctions widespread in the urban labour is discussed. The term, “white
untouchability” is coined to refer to the “safe distance” that is maintained from workers
belonging to marginal castes in urban contexts. This form of untouchability is suggested to
include the hiring of workers from lower castes as safai karamcharis under government as well
as private agencies. Peasants from rural areas and belonging to menial castes migrated to urban
settings, wherein the jobs which were available to them mainly related to sanitation work. The
study found that over three generations, agricultural workers who migrated from far-off rural
areas came to constitute the sanitation workforce in urban areas. It also recognizes that safai
karamcharis deal with human excreta and engage in manual scavenging while cleaning toilets,
sewers and drains.

In the report “Empowerment of Scheduled Castes”16, improving the working conditions of “safai
karamcharis” in preparing the way for the 11th Five Year Plan is recommended. “Safai
karamchari” is used as an umbrella term for a person, employed or engaged, in activities that
involve the manual cleaning and disposing of human excreta. “Manual scavenger” is defined as
per the 1993 Act, to mean a person, mostly women from the Scheduled Castes, engaged to clean

14
Centre for Science and Environment. “Septage Management in Urban India”. Draft report on National Urban
Sanitation Policy.
15
D’Souza, Paul. 2016. "Clean India, Unclean Indians beyond the Bhim Yatra." Economic and Political Weekly
dry latrines. However, it recognizes that this definition does not cover workers who manually
deal with human excreta in sewers, septic tanks and railway toilets. For sewage workers and
sanitation workers, the report recommends the Plan to include the provision of adequate safety
gears, and timely regularization of contractual workers under local bodies respectively.

The article "Silencing caste, sanitising oppression: Understanding Swachh Bharat Abhiyan."17
talks about delinking caste and sanitation. The author argues that notions of purity and pollution
perpetuate oppression of the “polluted castes,” who are forced to manually scavenge, unclog
manholes and clean other people’s filth. The paper posits that the availability of cheap Dalit
labour who are expected to do dehumanising work, is one of the chief reasons for neglecting
development of solid and liquid waste management in the country. The author argues that the
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is an attempt to glamorise and popularise the broom once again.

The report “Impact of Scheme of Training and Rehabilitation on Socioeconomic Improvement of

Scavengers in Rajasthan” 18assesses the implementation of National Scheme of Liberation and
Rehabilitation of Scavengers and their Dependents (NSLRS) in two districts of Rajasthan- Ajmer
and Udaipur. It defines a “manual scavenger” as a person engaged or employed to manually
carry human excreta. A “liberated manual scavenger” is defined as a person who has “stopped
himself/herself from engaging in manually carrying human excreta”. Based on the participation
of identified scavengers in NSLRS’s self/wage employment programmes, the study grouped
respondents in two categories, namely Beneficiaries and Non-Beneficiaries. The findings
revealed that both, Beneficiaries as well as Non-Beneficiaries continued being employed for
cleaning dry latrines in smaller towns and villages. Further, different forms of manual
scavenging were found to be prevalent in the districts, which included cleaning of fecal matter
from drains, sewers and roads. The study found that NSLRS did not achieve its set targets for
over a third of Beneficiaries were reported to continue engagement in scavenging of dry latrines
and drain cleaning.

17
Gatade, Subhash. 2015. "Silencing caste, sanitising oppression: Understanding Swachh Bharat Abhiyan."
Economic and Political Weekly.
18
Institute of Social Development. 2007. Impact of Scheme of Training and Rehabilitation on Socioeconomic
Improvement of Scavengers in Rajasthan.Draft Report by Institute of Social Development.
The report "Social inclusion of manual scavengers"19 discusses concerns of manual scavengers
under the human dignity framework and argues for policies to focus on rehabilitation of manual
scavengers in alternative livelihoods. It defines a “manual scavenger” as a person, mostly
women, who are engaged to clean dry latrines. It digresses from the popular emphasis on
conversion of dry latrines into water-flush latrines which is dominantly posed as a solution to
manual scavenging. Instead, the report suggests that economic rehabilitation of manual
scavengers in other occupations must be focused in policies.

The Guidelines for the survey on manual scavengers in Statutory towns was released by the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in February, 201320. The document provides that a
countrywide new survey would be carried out in 3546 statutory towns (STs), where the Census
2011 has revealed existence of insanitary latrines. The stated objective of the survey is to identify
persons who are covered under SRMS but, are still engaged in manual scavenging, and those not
covered under SRMS. It aims to identify genuine manual scavengers and to ascertain the details
of the insanitary latrines and open drains which are cleaned by the identified manual scavenger.
It differentiates between manual scavengers and safai karamcharis. It does not consider the latter
as a manual scavenger. In the guideline, the term “safai karamcharis” is used to refer to
‘sweepers’ or ‘sanitation/cleaning workers’ in municipalities, government and private offices. It
states that karamcharis per se are not manual scavengers. The term “manual scavenger” and
“insanitary latrine” has been defined in the document in line with the 2013 Act.

COMMITTEES:

The Committee by Barve led to a Scheme for the supply of wheel-barrows and improved
implements to scavengers. The aim was to eliminate the practice of “head loading” where night
soil was carried on the heads of manual scavengers for disposal. The Kelkar Commission Report
noted the ‘sub-human’ conditions under which manual scavengers worked. These included
carrying nigh-soil on their heads using leaky receptacles, and living in segregated communities.
This was followed by the Central Advisory Board for Harijan Welfare to review the living and

19
Singh R and Ziyauddin. 2009. “Manual scavenging as social exclusion: A case study”. Economic and Political
Weekly.
20
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India. 2013. Guidelines for Surveys on Manual
Scavengers in statutory Towns.
working conditions of sweepers and scavengers in the country. The board constituted Malkani
Committee (or the Scavenging Conditions Enquiry Committee) which made recommendations
covering more humane working conditions, improvements in the living conditions for sweepers
and scavengers, and finally, the payment of fair wages with regular leave. The second committee
chaired by Malkani on Customary Rights, found absence of municipal sanitation services and
customary relationships. The Gadkar committee’s report was the first to call for legislation to
regulate service conditions and set up an inspectorate. The Pandya Committee seconded this call
for legislation. By 1991, the Basu Committee noted that in spite of all the governments’ efforts at
rehabilitation, the focus at the implementation-level remained the conversion of dry latrines.
Using NSSO figures, the Task Force estimated a mere 4 lac scavengers in the country in 1989.
However they also recommended state-level surveys be conducted to provide a more accurate
estimation of figures when programs and schemes were launched. Overall, the committees
recommended improvements in the living and working condition of scavengers. This included
technological interventions to improve their working conditions, such as wheel-barrows, or
receptacles that did not leak. It was the Basu Committee that identified the systematic conversion
of dry latrines into pour-flush latrines as the core problem where such efforts had been
undertaken in the past but not enough had been done.

DOCUMENTARIES:

INDIA UNTOUCHED: STORIES OF A PEOPLE APART:21

This documentary provides visual evidence to the continuance of caste-based discrimination

across Indian states. It exposes the practice of Untouchability in rural and urban areas from states
like Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar. Interviews with
people engaged in a range of unclean activities including carrying and skinning of dead animals
and sanitation work, reveal the traditional confinement of respondents in caste based
occupations. Discrimination meted out by the school authorities is also exposed, wherein young
girls and boys from the so-called “untouchable” castes are asked to clean school toilets.

21
Stalin K. 2007. India Untouched: stories of a people apart.
Available at https://youtu.be/uM85zVt6xCU
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN UNTOUCHABLE SWEEPER:22

The documentary exposes the engagement of sweepers employed under government authorities
in the activity of cleaning open defecation spots. It is a recorded interview with a woman
sweeper employed under Madurai Municipal Corporation (MMC) while she cleans open
defecation spots in the area. She first pours dry ash on human excreta and collects the waste into
a metal bucket with the help of two thin metal sheets. She carries the metal bucket and dumps the
waste into a nearby dhalao (dumpsite) eventually sweeping the spot clean with a broom.
Additionally, the film points out that there are 2700 full time sanitation workers under MMC and
more than 90 percent of them are Dalits.

SAAKADAI:23

This documentary exposes the plight of manual scavengers in India, particularly in Chennai. The
state convener of the Safai Karamchari Andolan named Samuel explains about manual
scavenging and the reality of manual scavengers in Chennai. The places are covered and
scavengers are being interviewed. The unsafe condition under which they work and how the
government denies their rights are explained by the scavengers. The denial of medical assistance
to them clearly exposed. The reality of implementation and the health hazards faced by them is
explained.

KAKKOOS:24

This documentary covers different forms of manual scavenging, including septic tank cleaning,
sweeping open defecation spots, as well as sewerage cleaning work, in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Covering sanitation workers from various cities in the state, including Madurai, Coimbatore,
Trichy, Virudhnagar, Chennai, and Villupuram, the documentary exposes the deplorable working

22
Dalit Freedom Network, 2007, A Day in the Life of an Untouchable Sweeper.
Available at part 1 https://youtu.be/VVPqgeWPTww
Part 2 https://youtu.be/uN0g9LhRaeY
Part3 https://youtu.be/UXKJHihGbAg
23
Samuel Velanganni, 2019, Saakadai
Available at https://youtu.be/Ye6K2wzBgw8
24
Bharati D. 2017. Kakkoos.
Available at: https://youtu.be/lKfJQzDk4k4

.
conditions of sanitation workers. These conditions produce various health hazards for workers,
the gravest of all outcomes being death particularly in the case of septic tank cleaning and
sewerage work carried out without any protective gear. It reveals that workers from the
Arunthatiyar caste are predominantly employed to engage in sanitation work in Tamil Nadu.
Workers’ narratives are also pervaded with experiencing social discrimination on caste lines. It
also presents a scathing critique of the government’s neglect of the Supreme Court verdict in
2014 to compensate families for workers who died cleaning septic tanks in hazardous conditions.
It further points out to various challenges sanitation workers faces when accessing government
schemes for rehabilitation in alternative occupations.

WHAT I LEARNT FROM CLIMBING INTO HUMAN WASTE:25

This documentary covers the manual scavengers of Mumbai. The reporter Samdish gets into the
sewage among the scavengers who clean up the dirt and shit with bare hands everyday. The
reporter compares his life with them and starts conversation working along with them. Many
youngsters and children in the work are also covered to know about their education, job status
and why they are involved in this work. The irresponsible act of the local government officials is
exposed and the documentary investigates into the unfair practice of sewage treatment in
Mumbai. “My badge of Honour is his life of shame” in the documentary hits hard.

STATUTES:

While the committees pointed out the issue of manual scavenging in terms of a technological
solution to be solved, the focus was not on neighbourhood systems and infrastructure design and
maintenance. This is reflected in the two acts passed by the Government of India in 1993 and
2013. Both acts have a dual solution – technical and social. The former focuses on eliminating
dry latrines and insanitary latrines, while the latter focuses on the rehabilitation of manual
scavengers (1993, 2013). The emphasis on rehabilitation has led to schemes such as the “Self-
employment scheme for rehabilitation of manual scavengers (SRMS)” providing cash assistance,
capital and interest subsidy for enterprises, skill training, and loans for identified manual
scavengers. Two laws represent the Government of India’s efforts at the issue. The 1993 act

25
Avalok. L, 2017, What I learnt from climbing into human waste.
Available at https://youtu.be/y7DfnI0nDUo
defined manual scavengers as “a person engaged in, or employed for manually carrying human
excreta”. The 2013 Act expands this definition: “a person engaged or employed, at the
commencement of this Act, or at any time thereafter, by an individual or local authority or
agency or a contractor, for manually cleaning, carrying, disposing of, or otherwise handling in
any manner, human excreta in an insanitary latrine or in an open drain or pit into which the
human excreta from the insanitary latrine is disposed of, or on a railway track or in such other
spaces or premises, as the Central Government or a State Government may notify, before the
excreta fully decomposes in such as manner as may be prescribed”.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Doctrinal research method is used for conducting the proposed research. Doctrinal research in
the law field indicates arranging, ordering and analysis with the tools of the legal framework,
legal structure and case laws to search out the new things by extensive surveying of legal
literature.