Sanitation workers are involved in ensuring the health and well-being of the general public every day. They do everything from collecting waste every morning and cleaning toilets and gutters, to operating sewage treatment plants to keep our cities and towns clean. Despite this, abysmal pay, health risks, a lack of respect from society, and low self-esteem plague sanitation workers. Their work remains largely underappreciated. Since people in this line of work are subject to immense social discrimination, there is a need to uplift them. Proper training and guidance in a suitable environment can help sanitation workers lead a better life.
Providing sanitation workers with proper training and giving them respectful employment in their field can change their lives and the lives of their families. Harpic World Toilet College (HWTC) is trying to do exactly this. Established by the British health and hygiene products giant, Reckitt, HWTC aims at training people and helping them get respectable jobs as sanitation workers in different organisations.
The first Harpic World Toilet College in India was established by Reckitt in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, in 2015, in association with the World Toilet Organization in Singapore. In the first batch, 50 sanitation workers were trained. India’s second World Toilet College was set up in August 2018 in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. In the first year of its establishment, the college trained 3200 sanitation workers and helped them secure sustainable employment. Since then, college campuses have been set up in 13 more states across the country – transforming the lives of more than 15,000 sanitation workers by providing training, counselling and placement opportunities
HWTC operates as a knowledge-sharing platform with the aim of uplifting the lives of sanitation workers. Sanitation workers are educated about their rights, health hazards, and use of technology and trained in alternate livelihood skills. HWTC offers a two-year programme and three hours of daily classes to each batch of workers, five days a week. A batch of students comprises 25–30 workers, both men and women. The timing has been fixed in such a way that sanitation workers can attend the classes during their free hours or after finishing their duties.
The HWTC training programme ranges from technical and soft skills training to career counselling, partnership development, and the development of entrepreneurship in the sanitation value chain. It also provides practical training to sanitation workers about using machines and various safety standards. They are also educated about their rights, entitlements, and health issues linked to their work. Upskilling programmes aim to provide alternative livelihood options to sanitation workers so that they can find employment in local, national, and global organisations. The colleges also work in association with self-help groups and local organisations for awareness drives and communication campaigns around safe sanitation.
Reckitt has already been leading by example with the Harpic World Toilet College initiative, as many sanitation workers have already found dignified jobs in companies, hotels, and commercial establishments. They don’t resort to manual scavenging to earn a livelihood.
Mission Swachhta Aur Paani, a News 18 and Harpic India initiative, advocates the availability and usage of clean water and safe sanitation for all. Let’s all come together and join hands for Mission Swachhta Aur Paani- Mil Kar Lein Ye Zimmedari to ensure sustainable and inclusive sanitation. A grand Telethon will bring together government representatives, celebrities, artists, change makers, policy experts, and youth icons to celebrate the cause on the occasion of World Toilet Day on November 19.
Watch the telethon LIVE on November 19, 12 pm onwards at: https://www.news18.com/MissionSwachhtaPaani/
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