Meet Bezwada Wilson; The Man Who's Battling Against A Disgusting Social Practice!

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Meet Bezwada Wilson; The Man Who's Battling Against A Disgusting Social Practice!

Bezwada Wilson, born in Kolar Gold Fields at the border of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, took up a fight bigger than any person can handle alone. Fighting through the socially crippling practice that plagues the rural parts of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Bezwada Wilson’s war against manual scavenging began through his own experience.

Born in the Thoti caste that was socially obligated to pursue the scavenging profession passed down through ages, Bezwada Wilson faced discrimination at the school he went to in Hyderabad. He dreaded the first day at school where children are asked what their parents did for a living.

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Source: Frontline

As he grew up, nothing changed despite getting an education. In the employment exchange that he enrolled, he was deliberately listed under the scavenging position due to his caste, although his interests were otherwise.

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Source: Outlook

There are officially 6.76 lakh manual scavengers in India, though unofficial estimates put the figure at 13 lakh. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone is home to 2 lakh dry toilets that need to be cleaned manually.

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Source: The Hindu

The mellow peaceful man that he is, he started a letters campaign to eradicate manual scavenging in the country which went largely unnoticed.

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Source: sasnet

Despite the Supreme Court’s ban on manual scavenging in 1993 with the ‘Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act in 1993', the practice still thrived through the country.

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Source: The Hindu

Wilson who also helped found Safai Karmchari Andolan, along with the 18 civil society organisation filed a PIL to the Supreme Court naming all the litigants involved in the practice despite the ban. Although, it was tried to be brushed under the carpet, concrete proof helped strengthen his fight.

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Source: Frontline

His active and aggressive campaigning about the issue with the Government along with the other ones who helped, led to the fall in numbers in the last two decades from 15 lakhs to 2 lakh workers.

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Source: Real Heroes

As a child, he was treated like an outcast. As he grew up he realized that there were millions of children facing the same stigma that he faced. What he never understood as a scared child he evolved to fight as he grew. He didn’t want any child to face what he faced. He did not want any child feel ashamed of their parents’ profession; or have to make peace with the fact that they will grow up to be like their parents and not knowing why they have to. His courageous service to the people is finally being recognized. He was named one among the winners of the Prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Awards for 2016. Let's hope that his dream of ending manual scavenging becomes reality.