THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Manikuttan has a time-worn allergy eating into his skin’s pores. On a fine morning a year back, it had dug a deep hole in his thumb that ran to his wrist, which took more than a week to heal, throwing him out of a job for all that long. But otherwise, for the last fourteen years, this man has turned up, without miss, at the hundreds of houses in the Sasthamangalam-Vellayambalam stretch to collect garbage. The spotless look that this street usually wears owes a lot to him and his friends, who remain the only male group in the city to be doing the work of garbage-collectors among the 85 Kudumbashree Cleanwell women units. But all is not well with this men’s gang. Manikuttan’s allergy remain a tiny case. They stand proof of the fact that to be ‘minority’ is to be on the wrong side, be it men or women. The left side of the road from Sasthamangalam to Vellayambalam is handled by a women Cleanwell unit and the right side by the all-men group. The garbage from the rows of shops and residents’ associations here are collected by them. However, while the women enjoy all attention from the Corporation and the Kudumbashree, the men are hardly cared for. ‘’We are not given any gloves, boots or precautions for handling the garbage. We are not allowed any loans or subsidies. No new vehicles or cartons make its way to us from the Corporation. The ‘shree’ in Kudumbashree denotes ‘prosperity’ and not ‘woman’ as in ‘sthree’. Then, why this discrimination? We have asked the Corporation officials many a time but they treat us below the women. Though we do the same work,’’ says Manikuttan, who is also the president of this all-man gang which has registered under the banner Mythri Purusha Swayam Sahaya Sangham. Even his allergy is a result of this neglect, he swears. Until a year back, there were 14 men engaged in collecting garbage in the city. One of them, S Ani, died a year ago, owing to diseases that developed due to the nature of his job. ‘’He worked when he was ill; he was given no help. He died and his family was given no financial assistance. Though the women have an active insurance scheme, we have none. They collected Rs 90 each from us for the scheme, but it’s been two years and we have not been added to it,’’ says Balu, one among the group. They have been in this job for the last 14 years. ‘’That time, we used to collect garbage and stock it at a place from where the Corporation vans used to pick them up. Six years back, when Corporation started Capital City Clean City project, we were not made part of it. It was the then Kudumbashree Director who showed the heart to include us. Reluctantly, the Corporation officials then issued the identity cards for us. But the divide still continues,’’ says Murukan, another member. At the Health Inspector office at Sasthamangalam, there are several cartons arranged in rows, but not used by the units. ‘’We are running so short of cartons. The one we have is leaking, but they won’t replace it with one of those, even if they are lying unused,’’ says Balu. The group, which also has Santhoshkumar, Stanley, M S Ani, Sunilkumar, K Sadan, T Chandran, Ajikumar, George and Joy, hails from Rajaji Nagar Colony. For years now, they have been running from pillar to post to get their issues noticed by the officials. Presently, they are in a mood to rebel. They refuse to be part of dharnas and agitations organised by the Corporation. ‘’Onam is around the corner. The Corporation will not give us a penny, but the residents do. We can’t let them down, but if the Corporation does not change its attitude, we will be forced to change our decision too,’’ Manikuttan appears rigid. For all the scavenging work they do, a little care and support would not be too much to ask for. It’s time the Corporation gave them their due.
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