Crossref JGate SDG Google Scholar Open Access Creative Commons WorldCat OCLC DORA Scilit Semantic Scholar SDG
Enduring Margins: A Socio-Economic Analysis of Sewage Workers in Delhi-NCR
ARTICLE PDF FILE

Keywords

Dalits
Sewage workers
Sanitation
Manual scavenging

Categories

How to Cite

Kumar, A. (2025). Enduring Margins: A Socio-Economic Analysis of Sewage Workers in Delhi-NCR. South India Journal of Social Sciences, 23(1), 148-158. https://doi.org/10.62656/SIJSS.v23i1.1715

Abstract

Sewage workers, primarily from marginalised Dalit communities, play a crucial role in urban sanitation by managing sewers, drains, and septic tanks under hazardous conditions. Despite ongoing modernisation efforts, many of these workers continue to engage in this dangerous occupation. This study investigates the socioeconomic conditions of sewage workers in the Delhi-NCR region, highlighting their persistent marginalisation. These workers face economic exploitation, unsafe working environments, and limited educational opportunities for their children, which exacerbates the intersection of caste and class and contributes to poverty, exclusion, and stigma. Employing a mixed-method approach, the study included semi-structured interviews and field observations with 45 sewage workers, identified through snowball and purposive sampling. This research gathered quantitative data and qualitative insights, including experiences of caste discrimination. The findings reveal dire socioeconomic conditions, low wages, inadequate access to healthcare, and systemic discrimination. The study concludes that without effective policies aimed at addressing caste discrimination and changing societal mindsets, the marginalisation of sewage workers will continue, perpetuating poverty and exploitation in Delhi-NCR.

ARTICLE PDF FILE

References

Ambedkar, B. R. (1948). The Annihilation of Caste. Bombay: Bheem Patrika Publications.

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241-258). Greenwood Press.

Engels, F. (1845). The Condition of the Working Class in England. Panther.

Ghurye, G. S. (1969). Caste and Race in India (5th ed.). Popular Prakashan.

Guru, G. (2009). Humiliation: Claims and context. Oxford University Press.

Roy, A. (2014). Capitalism: A Ghost Story. Chi-cago: Haymarket Books.

Rathod, B. (2022). Dalit academic journeys: stories of caste, exclusion, and assertion in Indian higher education. Routledge India.

Shah, G., Mander, H., Thorat, S., Deshpande, S., & Baviskar, A. (2006). Untouchability in Rural India. Sage Publications.

Singh, B. (2014). Unseen: The truth about In-dia's manual scavengers. Rupa Publications In-dia.

Srinivas, M. N. (1980). The Remembered Village (No. 26). Univ of California Press.

Teltumbde, A. (2010). The Persistence of Caste in Modern India. Monthly Review Press.

Thorat, S., Madheswaran, S., & Vani, B. P. (2023). Scheduled Castes in the Indian labour market: Employment discrimination and its impact on poverty. Oxford University Press.

Thorat, S. & Newman, K. S. (2012). Blocked by Caste: Economic Discrimination in Modern India. Oxford University Press.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Copyright (c) 2025 South India Journal of Social Sciences