We see them on the streets every day, clearing leaves and garbage, but how many of us stop to say ‘hello’?
A campaign to understand the problems faced by the city's sanitary workers has started to gain traction on Facebook with a simple modus operandi – befriend the neighbourhood pourakarmika and take a selfie with them.
Sumathi Murthy, a freelancer, posted a selfie with pourakarmika Bhartakka, who works in her neighbourhood. Her accompanying post spoke about the problems Bhartakka faces. “Today she said that her push cart wheel broke and now she lifts all the weight by herself and walks to the dumping area. Contractors do not even replace or repair. She firmly said, ‘But I don’t ask money from any house even though I know I will have to get the cart repaired. We work with dignity, we don’t beg’.”
The idea behind the campaign is to get the public talking about the issues pourakarmikas face, said Lekha Adavi, a fellow at the Alternative Law Forum, referring to the tendency to ‘invisibilise’ the community.
“Not many people know their wages, that they don’t get weekly offs or even holidays for festivals, that they segregate waste with their bare hands without any sort of protection, or the health risks they run,” she continued.
It also makes pourakarmikas happy that they have the support of the public. “For many, their experience with the public has been only of discrimination. When they ask for water, they are given water in bathroom mugs. They are given food in plastic covers, and it could be leftovers or soiled food,” she points out.
FB posts
Sumathi Murthy - Vijayamma my friend works in our street. We have known each other for 5 years now. We often chat in the morning when we meet about how she has been getting paid less all her life, and how after paying for her rent, there will be no money left for the kids or for food.
Vinay Sreenivasa - Mr. Babu is one of the contract pourakarmikas of BBMP, who strives to keep our city clean. He is forced to carry this bin as the cart allotted to him has broken down and is not fixed. Lack of proper equipment is just one issue faced by the pourakarmikas of Bangalore. There is no weekly off, no sick leave.
