A Perspective on the Right to Life for India’s Sewer Cleaners

 A Perspective on the Right to Life for India’s Sewer Cleaners

Introduction

Behind India becoming the world’s 4 largest economy, there is a hidden society which is ignored. Which requires urgent redressal. Every day thousands of individuals undertake the task of cleaning the sewer, an occupation with invisible problems which undermine the constitutional guarantee of the right to life. Even though the judiciary expanded the scope of article 21. The workers work without proper protective gear, training, or social recognition.

Oversight

For decades society treated sewer cleaners as an inconvenient reality rather than a fundamental rights issue. Media covers when there is a causality which shocks the public conscience, and policy interventions remain reactive and limited. Municipal authorities and labour contractors outsource the job so as to avoid any type of accountability. By permitting this structural neglect civil society and the legal community support that system which commodifies human life. It is imperative to acknowledge this failure and recognise that silence in the face of preventable deaths equates to complicity.

Constitutional Duty

Article 21 of the Indian Constitution states that no one may be deprived of life or personal liberty except in accordance with procedure established by law. Judicial interpretations state that "life" doesn't imply mere survival, but it includes the right to live with dignity, health, and safety (Francis Coralie v. Union of India, 1981; Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation, 1985). The State is positively obligated to enact legislation and ensure proper protections for such rights. Insufficiency of protections upon sewer cleaners entering cramped areas filled with foul odours, pathogen germs, and improper hydraulic pressures would be a blatant violation of constitutional promise. They are not to be protected at the discretion of the State but mandatory.

Social Neglect

The caste and class dynamics in India increases the vulnerability of sewer cleaners. In history too these roles were given to the lowest strata, these workers confront deep-rooted prejudice that devalues their labour and human worth. Contractors are seen using this stigma to justify their deeds of subsistence wages, informal hiring practices, and denial of safety equipment. Their exclusion from society helps to maintain regulatory inertia: when a worker's life is devalued, public outrage is lost in short-term change. Occupational hazards are thus tackled by dismantling the social hierarchies that facilitate invisibility and dehumanisation.

Occupational Hazards

The occupation of sewer cleaning is dangerous in itself; the existing regulatory system, however, regards it as an appendix to the usual city maintenance and not a special occupation with rigorous regulation.

• Toxic gas exposure: Hydrogen sulphide and methane in confined spaces cause quick asphyxiation and neurological injury.

• Chemical and biological hazards: Toxic industrial wastes and sewage-borne pathogens cause chemical burns, gastrointestinal illness, and bloodborne diseases.

• Hydraulic surges: Ineffective communication protocols lead to instant flooding of untreated waste, suffocating the workers in a matter of seconds.

Although provisioned with legislations like Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996, and the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989, sewer cleaners remain beyond definitions enshrined as "construction worker" or "hazardous process operator." This gap in regulation goes against Articles 39(e) and 42 calling for just and humane conditions of work and social welfare.

Proposed Solutions

To align constitutional promises and ground realities, the following are changes worth adopting on priority:

• Statutory Inclusion-Make labour law—specifically, Factories Act, 1948, and Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996—specifically include sewer cleaners under their protective cover, subject to pre-employment medical check-up, periodic health check-up, and occupational disease compensation.

• Mandatory Safety Protocols-Issue Standard Operating Procedures under Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, mandating certified training courses, issuing self-contained breathing apparatus, gas detectors, chemical-proof clothing, and open-emergency evacuation systems.

• Independent Oversight Authority-Create a legislative sewer-safety regulator within the Ministry of Labour and Employment with membership from municipal authority members, members of labour unions, public health specialists, and lawyers. The Authority will carry out surprise inspections, inspect default compliance records, and give graded penalties for default.

• Improved Social Security-Enforce improved automatic coverage of sewer cleaners under the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act, 2008, by providing a floor wage, wide-ranging health insurance cover, disability benefit, and pension. Use digital platforms to facilitate ease of identification of the beneficiaries and direct benefit transfer.

• Judicial and Grassroots Advocacy-Instil public interest litigations to fight systemic denial and support pro bono legal aid clinics to make workers sensitized toward their rights. Enhance coordination among bar councils and civil society organizations so that enforcement can be monitored and human-rights violations recorded.

Conclusion 

The toxic conditions sewer cleaners labour in are more than an occupational hazard; they are a constitutional failing to impeach India's commitment to the values of human dignity. Article 21's right to life promises diligent protection of those who labour out of our sight. Legislators, administrators, judges, and civil society need to transform regret into resolute action. By thorough legal reform, aggressive enforcement, and vigilant community observation, we can safeguard the right to life of each one of us who keeps our towns out of the darkness below.

Closing Credit

 Author- Atharva Bhatkhande

"The views expressed are personal. This article is intended for educational purposes and public discourse. Feedback and constructive criticism are welcome!"