A MARRIAGE at 16 ended her schooling. At 18 she was carrying human excreta from dry toilets. Though she hated doing this yet she had no choice but fall in line. Women in her community had done for generations and she had to it too. 

Kiran is one of the 250 women from a Dalit community, which not so long ago earned their livelihood by clearing dry latrines of the houses of upper castes. They carried human excreta in cane baskets and dumped it outside the village. In return, they received some food and Rs.10 a month from each home.

 But a campaign called Garima, which literally translated means dignity was initiated five-years back with support from Action Aid. This campaign has today changed the lives of these families.

 “Two years into marriage my sister-in-law told me that cleaning dry toilets is my destiny,” recounts Kiran, who is one of the leaders of the Garima campaign.

“It was awful, bringing the soiled, soggy empty basket back into the house after a day of work,” she adds with disgust. 

“Women were forced to run unpaid errands, removing dead animals from village, clearing leftovers and tending to the aged and sick by cleaning their soiled sheets,”says Asif, coordinator, Garima campaign.

 “Till some time back our children felt they could not change their destiny, even if they studied. They thought they were cursed and will have to live the inhuman life of their parents,” adds Kiran.

 “Today things have changed beyond our dreams. We are coming forward to speak in one voice. We maybe illiterate, but each of us is given a chance to hold the mike and speak,” says Kiran.

 “We go for campaigning to other villages also. We ask people engaged in this work to quit it and live a life of dignity,”adds 54-year-old widow Badambai.

 A major victory for these women was getting scholarship for their children re-started. It was stopped after they gave up manual scavenging as it officially supported only those involved in the practice. This had made it difficult for these poor parents to pay the school fee. It was a big hurdle in their way of breaking free from the cycle of indignity.

 “We protested outside the office of Scheduled Caste Education Department till the scholarship order was restored. Now every child gets a scholarship of Rs.1500, up to fifth standard,” Kiran informed.

 “Earlier, our children were looked upon with contempt so they were not willing to go to school. Now things have changes for the better, they can go anywhere and lead a normal life without any stigma,” says 35-year-old Leela.

Recently, women associated with Garima got job cards under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme that offers 100 days of employment.