Bhangi
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Bhangi is a Hindu caste even though they are outside of traditional Varnas also treated as Hindu Untouchables. Bhangis are traditionally restricted to the two job functions of cleaning latrines and handling dead bodies (both human and animal). "Toilet Cleaner" are also called as manual scavengers and they have to carry it away in a bucket on their head.
Efforts have been made to improve sanitation systems in India, including laws that ban the construction of dry toilets. However Bhangis continue to work in their traditional roles and they continue to face considerable social barriers.
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[edit] Relations to other Hindu castes
Other caste such as Hindu dhobi (washer-men) and Hindu chamar (leather workers), while fellow Hindu castes are nonetheless considered social above the Bhangi. While nearly universally impoverished, the Bhangis' degraded status is not based on economic standing but rather on long-standing social norms which have delineated relations in Hindu society from Vedic times.
In recent years as Bhangis have gained political power, some have been able to escape their traditional job constraints to find other types of menial work. This has forced employers to raise pay rates for sanitation work, which in turn has drawn non-Bhangi into these fields.
[edit] Brahmins as Bhangis
Even people from caste Brahmin are working as toilet cleaners i.e. traditionally a Hindu Bhangis work. [1]. Presently there are around 50 sulabh shauchalayas (public toilets) in Delhi; all of them are cleaned and looked after by caste Brahmins. It appears the tide of modernism will continue to erode the traditional social hierarchy which has defined Hindu for well over two millennia.
[edit] External links
- Lesser Humans — Review of a documentary film on the Bhangis
[edit] References
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