‘Death cannot be outsourced’

A website under the acronym ASK Assistance for Safai Karamcharis offering legal aid to widows and families of manual scavengers with the overarching aim of eradicating manual scavenging from India altogether was launched at the Title Waves bookstore in Bandra West on Sunday eveningThe websitemdashaskforjusticeinmdashis an allIndia legal aid network for underserved families who do not know how to work the legal system in the advent of their family member perishing cleaning septic tanks or going down gutters for cleaningFieryThe event was a mix of the fiery and philosophical gutsy and glam with some Bollywood stars in attendance It was headlined by activists Abha Singh and her daughter Isha Singh Indian Police Service who made an online presence ldquoThrough the website we want to build a pool of resources for these affected people From seeking lawyers to volunteers to outlining formats for filing PILs or writs the website is a pool of information for those wronged to get justice The bigger aim is complete eradication When widows start asking for compensation as their legal right we will be taking firm steps towards doing away with the scavenging completelyrdquo Abha saidCompassionAbha told her young audience the majority of whom were law students ldquoThe ASK initiative is by the NGO the Rann Samar Foundation Rann Samar means battleground Life is a battleground and you need to fight the good fight Do not simply aspire to work with big law firms so that you have fancy names to shore up your curriculum vitae CV A CV is redundant if you do not have compassion and commitment for justicerdquoGenesisFor Abha and Isha the springboard for ASK came after they won compensation for widows of manual scavengers Vimla Chorotiya Neeta Kalshekar and Baani Debnath the emotional but courageous trio present at the event were paid R10 lakh each by the Maharashtra government as compensation after losing their husbands The milestone 2021 order by the Bombay High Court set the roadmap for ASKAbha explained the obstacles they faced en route to the order ldquoThe civic authorities insisted that they have no manual scavengers because they have lsquooutsourcedrsquo the task I said lsquoYou cannot outsource deathrsquordquo she pronounced to applause Though manual scavenging has been banned in India under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Rehabilitation Act 2013 the practice continues with workers forced to go down manholes clean gutters etc that too without safety gearHeroesIsha Singh who spoke joining online proved she had inherited the same lsquojazbaa for justicersquo from her parents mother Abha and father former IPS officer Y P Singh Isha said ldquoThis was the first case I argued and it changed my life I was fired up by one statement by these widows who had said lsquoThis system does not work for people like usrsquo I wanted to show them it does and it canrdquo she said adding ldquoIt is you the three widows who are my real heroesrdquoAlso Read Mumbai How will Adani fiasco affect the Dharavi projectInspirationHeroes brought us to Bollywood and film director and writer Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra of Rang De Basanti and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag fame said on the occasion ldquoThe real guests of honour are you the widows We are inspired seeing your couragerdquoActor and wrestler Sangram Singh told the youngsters ldquoHappiness is the highest form of success I appeal to you to find happiness through causes like theserdquo He added ldquoLook after your physical health For that I have a formula eat slightly lesser than your appetite drink double the amount of water work out thrice as much and laugh four times thatrdquoSusieben Shah a womenrsquos rights activist and founder of a womenrsquos taxi service stressed the importance of empowering women ldquoBy making them financially able to stand on their two feet With money in your pocket you have a voicerdquo she said and nodded towards the widows all of whom are transformed from weeping widows to working women responsible for the upkeep of their children ldquoYou have fought the long fight and stood on your two feetrdquo she added2021The year the high court passed landmark order