YOGANARASIMHACHARI.
K, International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences,
ISSN 2250-0588, Impact Factor: 6.565, Volume 09 Issue 05, May 2019, Page 404-409
Socio-Economic Problems of
Pourakarmikas in Mandya District –A
Sociological Study
Dr. YOGANARASIMHACHARI. K
(Assistant Professor of Sociology, Govt .College, (Autonomous), Mandya - 571401, Karnataka state)
Abstract: India is a traditional society. It has different feature on the basis of which it is claimed that
historically the process of change has been very slow one of its structural features is the existence of caste
system. Infect the society is segmented into thousands of castes and subs castes; each caste has its own features.
Also each of them has been traditionally assigned different roles and responsibilities. The theories of Varna not
only assigned distinct occupation to each of the varnas, but also evoked different prescription and proscription
to insure the proper functioning of each caste or caste group. These practices forced people to perform
according to the principles of the Varna system. Those individuals and groups who violated the caste
prescriptions were punished in different ways and those who conformed themselves with the existing normative
system were rewarded. So far as the caste occupation of non-twice born is concerned, it got less prestige and
status in the hierarchy of occupation. Most of these occupations were manual which required relatively less
amount of technical knowledge. Since population from this caste category was very large, large number of
people entered in the caste occupation. As a result, in the case of certain occupations more numbers of role
players were available than the desired number this had its impact on the earning, physical quality of life and
living standard in a negative way.
The scavenging class living in towns work under municipalities, corporations, hospitals, colleges, hostels,
nursing homes and such other institutions. They, therefore, are enlightened enough to form their own
organizations and trade unions. In case of an increase of confrontation with their employers, they show their
mettle without any hesitation.
The socio-economic profile of the respondents is an important aspect to analyze the data sociologically. This
analyzes the data in detail; examines all empirical data and secondary information and observations. It reveals
the nature and characteristics of the sample, the age, religion, caste and sub castes, marital status, type of
family, total number of family members and income of the respondents and their migration, earning members,
pattern of expenditure, indebtedness, savings habit, etc. The work is based on an empirical study covering 100
respondents in urban settings Mandya. It is intended to give a glimpse of the living and working conditions of
the scavenger castes and to bring out the impact of different welfare programmes for their liberation and
rehabilitation in the gender and human rights perspectives. The information collected through the interview
schedules and has been analyzed pertaining to the socio-economic conditions of the pourakarmikas.
Keywords: Traditional society, Caste system, Varna system, Hierarchy of occupation, Socio-Economic, Human
rights.
I. INTRODUCTION
The socio-economic profile of the respondents is an important aspect to analyze the data sociologically.
This analyzes the data in detail; examines all empirical data and secondary information and observations. It
reveals the nature and characteristics of the sample, the age, religion, caste and sub castes, marital status, type of
family, total number of family members and income of the respondents and their migration, earning members,
pattern of expenditure, indebtedness, savings habit, etc. The work is based on an empirical study covering 100
respondents in urban settings Mandya. It is intended to give a glimpse of the living and working conditions of
the scavenger castes and to bring out the impact of different welfare programmes for their liberation and
rehabilitation in the gender and human rights perspectives. The information collected through the interview
schedules and has been analyzed pertaining to the socio-economic conditions of the pourakarmikas.
II. OBJECTIVES
I. To understand the level of working conditions under which they work facing different social
humiliation and harassment.
II. To know the kind of response and actions undertaken by the government for the welfare of the
pourakarmikas.
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YOGANARASIMHACHARI. K, International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences,
ISSN 2250-0588, Impact Factor: 6.565, Volume 09 Issue 05, May 2019, Page 404-409
III. METHODOLOGY
The data is drawn by adopting the Primary data, is collected through the simple random sampling method. Is
collected through the simple random sampling method. In the universe of 100 sample size. Observation
techniques and also from various different news papers, research reports, journals, and websites and research
papers and also through informal Interview method.
IV. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Siddaramu. B. (2013) has discussed scavengers and sweepers still carry out the basic sanitary services
in cities and towns. While many are employed by local urban authorities to clean the sewers and sweep the
streets, a significant number still work in their traditional occupation. This means that scavengers are still
cleaning latrines by hand and carrying night soil in baskets on their heads. Such socio-economic conditions for
scavengers still persist despite various articles in the Indian constitution, which stipulate that the state should
promote the economic and educational interests of Scheduled Castes and protect them from discrimination and
exploitation. This article talks about the plight of manual scavengers in Indian society. It also cortically analyses
the policies and programs of manual scavengers.
B.N. Srivastava (1997) to trace the origin of scavengers in India, their social and economic status, caste
organizations, cultural heritage and territorial distribution. One of the important findings of the study is that
although a large number of sweepers, mostly from northern India, have abandoned Hindu religion and converted
to other religions, no significant change has come about in their occupation or social status.
Patwardhan (1973: 203) has shown in her case study of the "Harijans" of Maharashtra that urbanization leads to
greater occupational mobility for the Scheduled Castes. Whenever a group of people continues with their
traditional occupation in an urban area, it does so because it finds it financially more rewarding. There is a
relative absence of ritual compulsions to do the hereditary work in cities. However, she has observed that not all
castes performing menial jobs discard their traditional occupations in cities.
Medina (2000) states that scavenger poverty can be largely accounted for by the low prices they are paid
for the recyclables by middlemen. In some cases, ntermediaries, especially in monopsonistic markets take
advantage of scavengers. For instance, scavengers in some Colombian, Indian and Mexican cities receive as low
as 5% of the price industry pays for recyclables.
Kaseva and Gupta (1996) show that in Tanzania, scavengers, being generally uneducated workers,
have very little information on the possible outlets where they can sell the material at better price, and they run
the risk of exploitation by middlemen who buy the material at approximately one-third of the normal price and
sell to industry.
Bikramaditya Kumar Choudhary. (2003) waste-pickers are not aware of the forward linkages of the
waste recovery process, but thanks to globalisation are affected by the movement of market prices. They are
mostly very poor, face social and economic exploitation and have little say in the formulation of policies that
directly affect them.
Socio-Economic Profile
The socio-economic profile is one of the important steps to be analyzed in social science research, to
better understand the living conditions and social life of the respondents.
V. DATA ANAYLSIS
1. Age group of the respondents:
Table-1 Age group of the respondents
Sl. No Age Frequency Percentage
1 20-25 26 26.00
2 26-30 21 21.00
3 31-35 13 13.00
4 36-40 15 15.00
5 45 above 25 25.00
Total 100 100.00
Source: Primary Data
The field work carried out starting from the age profile of the respondents with the above table shows
that 26 % of the respondents are young aged (20-25 years) 21% of the respondents are between the age group of
26- 30 years, over 13% of the respondents are in between the age group of 31- 35 years, and 36 % of the
respondents are in between the age group of the 36-40, 25 % of the respondents are in between the age group 45
& above years.
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YOGANARASIMHACHARI. K, International Journal of Research in Engineering, IT and Social Sciences,
ISSN 2250-0588, Impact Factor: 6.565, Volume 09 Issue 05, May 2019, Page 404-409
2. Gender distribution of the respondents:
Table-2 Gender of the respondents
Sl. No Gender Frequency Percentage
1 Male 63 63.00
2 Female 37 37.00
Total 100 100.00
Source: Primary Data
The scavenging work in the community is also traditionally performed by Scavengers mainly to
supplement family income, while men act as main bread earners, and work outside the households and
constitute the maximum of the work force comparatively. Hence, this being the case, such an assumption is
being examined with the help of data in table 2 As is evident, among different factors considered, of the 100
respondents 63 (63.00%) are male and 37 (37.00%) are female. And it is known from the field study that the
male part were more dominant in the different types of work performing the machinery such garbage and
compactors to be handled which cannot be done by women.
3. Educational Qualification of the respondents:
Table 3 Educational Qualification of the respondents
Sl. no Educational Frequency Percentage
1 Illiterates 56 56.00
2 Primary 18 18.00
3 Middle school 08 08.00
4 High school 10 10.00
5 PUC 05 05.00
6 Degree/graduates 03 03.00
Total 100 100
Source: Primary Data
The social discrimination faced by some of these workers is another major factor that influenced the
outcome of this query. This highlights the lack of proper policies to encourage education in socially and
financially marginalized communities in India and lack of support from the government for any educational
provisions. With the above table 3 it is clear that in the present study, out of total respondents, i.e., 100, 56.00%
of the respondents are illiterates, 18.00% of the respondents passed primary level, 10.00% of the respondents
were having the education up to high school, 8% of the respondents were completed their middle school, 5.00 %
of the respondents are completed their PUC /equivalent, and the rest of 03.00 respondents completed their
degree/graduates.
4. Marital Status of the respondents:
Table-4 Marital status of the respondents
Sl No Marital Status Male Female Percentage
1 Married 35 15 49.56
2 Unmarried 15 06 20.55
3 Widow/ Widower 02 05 9.51
4 Divorced 03 02 5.40
5 Separated 14 03 14.98
Total 69 31 100
Source: Primary Data
The marital status is one of the features of Indian society has a bigger variations, and the same if
compared to the marginalized sections also. One can observe that the poorer are married very early and this not
an exception among the pourakarmikas, table 4 Marital status of the respondents the marital status of
respondents and the majority of them out of total respondents, i.e., 100, 49.56 % of the respondents were male
and female married, where as 20.55 % of the respondents were unmarried, 9.51 % of the respondents were
Widow/Widower, 5.40% of the respondents were divorced and the rest of 14.98 % were separated.
5. Religion of the respondents:
Table-5 Religion of the respondents
Sl No Religion Frequency Percentage
1 Hindu 81 81.00
2 Muslim 07 07.00
3 Christian 03 03.00
4 Buddhist 00 00.00
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5 Others 09 09.00
Total 100 100
Source: Primary Data
Table-5 show that Religion of the respondents It is true from the above statistical table that religion
was not a problem religions profile which again has an impact on their social profile and here the researcher
identifies that many of the pourakarmikas belongs to respondents and the majority of them out of total
respondents, i.e., 100, Hindu which alone constitutes for 81.00 %, 07.00 % of the respondents were Muslims,
03.00% of the respondents were Christians, and the rest 09.00% has been taken over by some other religion.
6. Caste of the respondents:
Table-6 Caste of the respondent
Sl No Caste Frequency Percentage
General 13 13.00
Scheduled Caste 69 69.00
Scheduled Tribes 12 12.00
Other Backward Caste 06 6.00
Total 100 100
Source: Primary Data
Table - 6 show that respondents and the majority of them out of total respondents, i.e., 100, 13.00 %
of the respondents were General caste, 69.00 % of the respondents were Scheduled Caste, 12.% of the
respondents were Scheduled Tribes, 06.00 % Other Backward Cast
7. Family type of the respondents:
Table-7 Family type of the respondents
Sl No Family type Frequency Percentage
1 Joint 83 83.00
2 Nuclear 17 17.00
Total 100 100
Source: Primary Data
Table-7 show that Family structure is one of the important characteristics of Indian society for which
the Joint families are more prone to unorganized workers. From the above table it is clear that 83 respondents
(83.00) live in joint family & 17.00% live in nuclear family. Above table reveals that type of the family of the
respondent. The majority of the respondents i.e., 83.00 % of the respondents living in joint family.
8. Family type of the respondents:
Table-8 Family size of the respondents
Sl No Family Size Frequency Percentage
1 1 to 3 17 17.00
2 4 to 6 65 65.00
3 7 to 9 08 8.00
4 10 above 10 10.00
Total 100 100
Source: Primary Data
The above table shows the family size of the 100 respondents. In the present 1-3 members who consist
of 17.00 %, while 65.00 per cent respondents have 4-6 members in the family, 8.00 per cent have 7-9 members,
and only 10 per cent of the respondents have more than 10 members in the family.
9. Monthly Salary of the respondents:
Table- 9 Monthly Salary of the respondents
Sl No Monthly Income Frequency Percentage
1 4000 to 6000 29 29.00
2 7000 to 9000 45 45.00
3 10000 to 12000 15 15.00
4 Above 12000 11 11.00
Total 100 100
Source: Primary Data
Table- 9 show the 100 respondents scavengers having monthly salary starting from Rs. 5000 to 7000
constituted 29.00% a large amount of the respondents i.e. 45.00% of the respondents earns monthly salary in the
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range of Rs 7000 to 9000. 15.00% earn 10,000 to 12,000, those earning above Rs. 12000 are 11.00%. Majority
respondents are 45.00% of the respondents earns monthly salary in the range of Rs 7000 to 9000.
10. Monthly Salary of the respondents:
Table- 10 Satisfy of present wages
Sl No Salary Satisfaction Frequency Percentage
1 Yes 35 35.00
2 No 65 65.00
Total 100 100
Source: Primary Data
Table- 10 show the 100 respondents scavengers The economic status of the scavengers as per the per
capita income which is a great difference among the scavengers from other professions which has been a serious
critical issue and from the above table it is revealed that only a small percentage of the family is satisfied with
their earnings and more often they are prone to many family commitments which cannot be met with the salary
which they earn, only 30 of the100 are not satisfied and 65.00 % of them are 35.00 % satisfied in their
earnings.
11. Type of savings of the respondents:
Table-11 Type of savings of the respondents
Sl No Savings Type Frequency Percentage
1 Chits 31 31.00
2 Post office Savings 48 48.00
3 L.I.C 8 8.00
4 Bank 10 10.00
5 Any others 03 3.00
Total 100 100
Source: Primary Data
Table- 11 show the 100 respondents scavengers. The savings part of the family has a different sources
which are unorganized and many are used to save through chit funds and other micro savings which are run by
the local money lenders, who are not organized with their financial institutions which has lead to unaccounted
money leading to high interest rates and sometimes harassments in getting back the money. Hence it is true from
the above chart that 31% of them have their financial transactions and savings through the local chit funds,
many have not banking knowledge and Life insurance and 8.00 % have been saving through the post offices and
the other 48.00 % save through other investments through lending to family members and relations.
12. Purpose of Savings of the respondents:
Table- 12 Purpose of Savings of the respondents
Sl No Purpose of Savings Frequency Percentage
1 Marriage purpose their children 27 27.00
2 Children study 33 33.00
3 Bad or difficult time 10 10.00
4 Old age and for future 09 9.00
5 Domestic work 10 10.00
6 Children employment 05 5.00
7 House construction 06 6.00
Total 100 100
Source: Primary Data
Table- 12 show the 100 respondents scavengers. Savings in the safer side of the bad times or when
necessity. The above table shows the different purposes of savings of the respondents. Majority of the
respondents i.e., 06.00 &% per cent save huge amount for house construction. This shows that the respondent
does not have their own house with proper basic facilities. While 27.00 % per cent save on marriage purpose of
their children which is considered as the major burden on the parents. Later 16.33 per cent i.e., 9.00 per cent of
the respondents save for their old age and for their future, 33.00 per cent save for their children education, 6.00
per cent save on domestic purpose, 8.66 per cent save for their bad or difficult time and 5.00 per cent save on the
children employment.
VI. FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS
I. Table – 1 The field work carried out starting from the age profile of the respondents with the above
table shows that 26 % of the respondents are young aged (20-25 years)
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II. Table – 2 as is evident, among different factors considered, of the 100 respondents 63 (63.00%)
male.
III. Table – 3 Majority 56.00% of the respondents are illiterates.
IV. Table – 4 Majority of them out of total respondents i.e., 100, 49.56 % of the respondents were
male and female married.
V. Table – 5 Majority of them out of total respondents, Hindu which alone constitutes for 81.00 %.
VI. Table – 6 Majority of them out of total respondents, i.e., 100, 69.00 % of the respondents were
Scheduled Caste.
VII. Table – 7 the majority of the respondents i.e., 83.00 % of the respondents living in joint family.
VIII. Table – 8 the family size of the 100 respondents. While 65.00 per cent respondents have 4-6
members in the family.
IX. Table – 9 Majority respondents are 45.00% of the respondents earns monthly salary in the range of
Rs 7000 to 9000.
X. Table – 10 Majority respondents salary which they earn, only are not satisfied and 65.00 %
XI. Table – 11 Majority respondents have been saving through the post offices and the other 48.00 %
XII. Table -12 Majority respondents 33.00 per cent save for their children education.
Conclusion
The present condition of pourakarmikas in Mandya has been discussed here with the help of data on
socio-economic profile of pourkarmikas in Bangalore collected by researcher himself. In this chapter the caste,
age, religion, marital status, type of family, educational status of the respondents, mother tongue of the
respondents, income, awareness about rehabilitation programmes, etc. have been discussed. General caste,
Muslims and Christians are also engaged in this work. This shows us how caste is still predominantly
maintaining its characteristics even in urban and the traditional bond between occupation and caste. Both
Muslims and Christian communities are immigrants they are doing this work from past 4-5 decades but General
castes community joined the work recently. Majority of pourakarmikas came from Joint families. Lack of
education of these communities is the main reason for adopting scavenging work. Due to lack of education and
better health facilities people desire more children. The pourakarmikas are still in the grip of poverty. The
income level is low. Basic amenities like housing, drinking water, sanitation, electricity and medical facilities
are extremely poor. Very few live in government quarters and these quarters are in bad position. Still most of the
pourakarmikas are unaware of their rights, constitutional safeguards. The pourakarmikas are leading pathetic life
especially sweepers under the contract system are exploited. They are not given wages equal to that of the
permanent notification of minimum wages in their regard. The contractors in various threatened the workers that
if they ask for minimum wages the contractors would no longer be interested in the contract would abandon
them.
Critical examination of different dimensions of life of occupationally mobiled scavengers equip us to
make different conclusions. These conclusions are totally based upon the views and opinions expressed by the
respondents. However, it has been examined critically in the light of the under currents of the society. Also,
based upon the views of respondents as well as information’s supplied by the key information’s from the city of
Bhopal, a set of recommendations have been made. It is assumed that if these recommendations have been
made. It is assumed that if these recommendations are translated into action by all the concerned, the plight of
the mobiled scavengers experienced at different levels and in different forms can surely be reduced. Further, it
may fasten the ongoing process of mobility and social change among large number of scavengers.
VII. REFERENCES
1) Siddaramu. B. (2013). Liberation and Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers. International Journal of Research in
Humanities, Arts and Literature, Vol. 1, Issue 2, July, 29-38.
2) Srivastava, B.N. 1997. Manual Scavenging in India: A Disgrace to the Country, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company.
3) Patwardhan, Sunanda. 1973. Change among India's Harijans, Maharashtra- a case study, New Delhi: Orient Longman.
4) B Ravichandran. (2011). Scavenging Profession: Between Class and Caste? Economic & Political Weekly, March 26, Vol:
XLVI No 13,Pp.21-25.
5) Bikramaditya Kumar Choudhary. (2003). Waste and Waste-Pickers. Economic and Political Weekly. December 13,
Pp.5240-5242.
6) Gooptu, Nandini. 1996. 'Urban Poverty and the Politics of Caste and Religion in Early 20th Century North India:
Implications for Development Practice and Research', Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 24 (3), Pp. 221-240.
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