The frequent deaths of India’s sewer workers isn’t a governance failure – they are rooted in caste

The philosophy of caste validates the casual subjection of sanitation workers to the hazardous, humiliating task of cleaning sewers and septic tanks.

Harsh Mander

, 

Sonal Sharma

 & 

Vidit Verma

· Nov 17, 2019 · 06:30 am

A Dalit man agreed to clean a sewer hoping for a permanent job – and was killed by toxic fumes

The authorities in Mathura have failed to keep their promise to give Rakesh Valmiki’s family a pension, a home and free education for the children.

Harsh Mander

, 

Vidit Verma

 & 

Sonal Sharma

· Oct 27, 2019 · 06:30 am

Why a woman in Udaipur refused to strike a compromise after her husband died cleaning a septic tank

The man who had hired Sukhlal didn’t even visit the dead man’s home to inquire about his family. But he wanted them to withdraw their police complaint.

Harsh Mander

, 

Vidit Verma

 & 

Sonal Sharma

· Oct 11, 2019 · 06:30 am

As three Dalits lay dying from toxic fumes in an Agra sewer, no one would even give them water

Baby Valmiki recounts the death of her husband Raju and his two companions in 2012.

Harsh Mander

, 

Sonal Sharma

 & 

Vidit Verma

· Sep 27, 2019 · 06:30 am

A woman in MP recounts the trauma of watching her husband die in a tank full of faeces

Chinta Bai lost her son to a snakebite and her husband to the inexorable practice of manual scavenging.

Harsh Mander

, 

Sonal Sharma

 & 

Vidit Verma

· Sep 13, 2019 · 06:30 am

A decade after her husband died cleaning a septic tank, a woman in MP struggles to keep going

The sight of her three-year-old son and her infant daughter reminded Rekha Devi of the reason to live.

Harsh Mander

, 

Sonal Sharma

 & 

Vidit Verma

· Aug 23, 2019 · 07:30 am

In Agra, fear of eviction stalls the fight for justice for a man who died after cleaning septic tank

Raju died even before his 21st birthday. His father is afraid that the family will lose their home if they file a complaint against those who hired him.

Harsh Mander

, 

Sonal Sharma

 & 

Vidit Verma

· Aug 13, 2019 · 07:30 am

‘No one came to help’: How a father and teenaged son in Madhya Pradesh died cleaning a septic tank

They hoped to earn some quick money before a family reunion. But they were not given enough time to let poisonous gasses escape before beginning their task.

Harsh Mander

, 

Sonal Sharma

 & 

Vidit Verma

· Jul 26, 2019 · 09:00 am

Govind decided to clean a septic tank to earn extra money for Holi. He drowned in shit

Though manual scavenging is banned, it hasn’t disappeared. As flush toilets become more popular, the practice has simply taken on a new form.

Harsh Mander

, 

Sonal Sharma

 & 

Vidit Verma

· Jul 19, 2019 · 12:30 pm