Meet The Garbage Collector In Mumbai Who Has Four Degrees


BANGALORE: Sunil Yadav, a 36-year-old man having earned four degrees over the years has been the victim of circumstances as he works as a garbage collector at the the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in Mumbai.

 In the last nine years, Yadav successfully managed to complete his completed his B Com, BA in journalism, MA in Globalization and Labor, Masters in Social Work. Currently, he is pursuing his M Phil at the reputed Tata Institute of Social Sciences, reports NDTV.

Mr Yadav said, "We were born as scavengers. Right from our birth we have been slaves. We never really had any rights. We are trying to get out of it, and there is only one way to do that. Baba Saheb Ambedkar said, ‘if you study, you will grow,’ but people still don't accept us."

His family, for four generations, shared the same cursed fate as they all worked as manual scavengers. Yadav eventually took up his father’s line of work at the BMC after he was certified medically unfit.

Yadav reaccounted, "I got down into a drain on my first day of work. For days after that, the smell didn't leave my mind. I walked through water with dead animals. That's when I decided I had to study and get out of this vicious cycle."

Regardless of all the adversities he has faced, Yadav stayed focused and funded his own education while working at the municipal body. "Not every Dalit is a scavenger, but every scavenger is a Dalit. There is 100 percent reservation in that category," he added.

"I worked in the night from 9 pm to 2 am and studied during the day and even though BMC rules state I am entitled to a study leave, it took me 18 months to get it approved," he added. His wife Sanjana also managed to complete her graduation after getting married.

Despite the fact that the bill passed by the Parliament had ruled out manual scavenging in 2013, experts suggest that the country still has a long way to go. Bezwada Wilson, National Convenor of the Safai Karamchari Andolan said, "A new act has come in 2013, two years have gone, and we have not prosecuted even a single person across the country. So, when the law is not working, the bureaucrats are not working, when political will is not there, and when the society is not sensitive, where is the question that we can achieve our target?”

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