LAHORE: In an event on the FC University campus, a report was launched on Tuesday regarding the issues and challenges faced by sanitation workers, including those who go down in sewers, and a resolution was drafted to be presented in the assembly.

The report titled ‘Shame and Stigma in Sanitation’ explores the theme, especially focusing on the issue of religion. Assessments, research and recommendations were done by Asif Aqeel and Mary James Gill.

Resolution’s 12-point agenda pushed for bringing dignity to the profession of these sanitation workers, who it said, spent their entire lives working for the benefit of other citizens, at the expense of not only their health and basic opportunities but also by putting their lives at risk. It pushes for gratitude, respect irrespective of religion, caste, colour, sect or gender must be given, and any dehumanizing attitude towards them must be strongly condemned.

There is a need to improve the workplace, ensure the implementation of the WASH agenda, especially since they are sanitation workers, urge provincial and federal governments to end institutionalized status of caste: recording caste in legal and revenue documents must be stopped; government and policymakers must regard sanitation workers as a special vulnerable group.

The resolution stated that the idea of attaching work with birth status was absolutely wrong and must be discouraged as a social trend and also at policy level. Opinion makers and journalists must change attitudes in society, declared the resolution, and perhaps the most important change that was needed was to bring a change at policy level, where labour laws are concerned. Besides the fact that most of the workers are Christian, and are never promoted in their lives, they are also not protected by labour laws.

The resolution calls for urgent action to bring ILO’s “Decent Work Agenda” into the sanitation labour sector. MPA Sadia Sohail said that the real heroes were those who cleaned up the dirt and mess made by other citizens.

MPAs Lubna Manzoor and Hina Butt, Irfan Mufti and LWMC’s Tariq Hussain also spoke.

Shields were presented to some of the senior workers who spent the last two or three decades doing dangerous work, and their courage was celebrated in the face of extremely difficult circumstances.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2019