India Will Seek Ban on Handling Human Waste by ‘Untouchable’ Hindus
India said Friday it would seek to ban the carrying of human excrement by poor Hindus born into the lowest rung of the caste hierarchy.
An official spokesman said Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao decided at a cabinet meeting to write to the governments of India’s 25 states, urging them to make it illegal for “human scavengers to carry nightsoil.”
Indian cities have inadequate sewage systems and many among its 850 million people still employ people from the “untouchable” bhangi caste to carry human excrement to dumps.
Previous governments have said it is unrealistic to ban it when it gives 400,000 people living in acute poverty a job.
The spokesman said the government would seek to promote a decade-old plan to employ at least some of the bhangis in the building of water-borne latrines.
Caste discrimination is officially illegal. But many Indians still inherit menial jobs.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
