Part of my infinite ignorance package was that I wasnt aware of the sanitation problem in India. I saw it every day while I lived there but it never struck me. Anyways I had also never heard of dry toilets and the dalits having to manually clean it. The lethal combination of caste-ism and sex-ism leaves this job for lower caste women.
India together has this article on manual scavenging.
A 2002 report prepared by the International Dalit Solidarity Network - which includes the Human Rights Watch (United States), Navsarjan, (Ahmedabad, Gujarat), and the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights - says that the government estimates that there are one million Dalit manual scavengers in India. Manual scavengers are exposed to the most virulent forms of viral and bacterial infections that affect their skin, eyes, limbs, respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Tuberculosis is rife among the community, according to the report.
I have seen septic tanks being used in rural India but never found out how they worked. Wiki explains.
Side note: I wonder why leaders like Gandhi became popular in India. Was it blind faith in someone produced some results? How come his principles never become part of our decision process as a community. The US (since this is the only other country I have seen) inspite of achieving independence about 200 years ago still speak of the "founding fathers" in the political and social debates. How come we cant remember the revolution we concluded 50 years ago ? Is it because of millennia of history before 1947? There are other western countries with history books just as thick, they dont have this issue. Is it western philosophy v/s eastern philosophy, one focussing on logic and human life, and the other on after-life.
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