one more reason why india needs manual scavengers

no food, no shit. so, food is always a bigger problem than shit, or how it shall be disposed of. that's another reason why india needs manual scavengers: so that the rulers can take care of bigger problems. and not just the rulers, but also those who check how the rulers are doing, can go on looking at the bigger problem of how the rulers are doing. check how aruna roy dismisses all the developmentarian nonsense about basic sanitation for the poor as pure shit:

The greatest apprehension was about the small but vital details of day-to-day living. Inevitably there was the fear of the toilet. Thoughts of bowel movements dominated the day like the hum of a bee. Perhaps, as my friend Dunu Roy said, our major pre- occupation became a development priority. It was not until I was toilet trained and understood my own fallacy that I empathised with the irate Naurti, who said the toilet was the least of her priorities. What she wanted was a minimum wage and employment.

have you ever met anyone on a street who requested you to lend/donate a couple of rupees so that she can go take a crap at the nearest sulabh shauchalaya?

of course naurti would prefer a minimum wage and employment. posited in that fashion, the always current need to eat against the always future need to take a crap, who'd vote for a clean, private toilet over a minimum wage?

but why would anyone who has had access to such privileges as clean, private toilets accept such crap as working for wages lower than minimum? once you taste that kind of privileges, you start thinking of them as your rights. the indian ruling classes understand that clearly: no basic sanitation means lower wages, always.