National Safai Karamchari Commission -an Indian statutory body formed to monitor the status and situation of people engaged in cleaning roads, clearing waste, manual scavenging and the like, has taken cudgels on behalf of the poor Shillong Sikhs who are facing the ire of the government of Meghalaya determined to relocate them from their 200-year-old habitat.  In a clear note, Commission member Jagadish Hiremani, during his recent visit has categorically stated that “these people have served Meghalaya for the last two hundred years, there is no need to relocate them in any way.”

SAFAI KARAMCHARIS -cleaners and janitors, employed by the government, in the Harijan Colony are not to be relocated –Inko yaha se nahi nikalna hai. They have served the people and the state for the last 200 years. –Inhonone pichle do sau saal se yahan sewa ki hai, kyun nikalna hai inko?

These words of National Commission for Safai Karamchari Commission Member Jagadish Hiremani, during his visit to Shillong a few days ago, have provided much-needed succour and relief to the residents of Harijan Colony aka Sweepers Colony in the Bara Bazar area of Shillong. On the other hand, it has rattled the state government, whose Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong has gone on record to say that commissions can advise whatever but ultimately it is the state government of Meghalaya which will decide the status of these Safai Karamcharis.

The NCSK member visited the Harijan Colony and interacted with residents of the colony and listened to their woes and problems. The Harijan Panchayat Committee submitted a detailed memorandum of demands to the visiting member of the Commission.

On his return from the colony, speaking exclusively to The World Sikh News, on the phone line from Shillong, Jagadish Hiremani said, “I have visited the area and studied the documents provided to me by the residents of the Harijan Colony as well as by the government. I have understood their case thoroughly. Upon return to Delhi, I will prepare a comprehensive report and the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis will recommend to the State of Meghalaya that the Safai Karamcharis in the Harijan Colony should not be relocated.”

SAFAI KARAMCHARIS -cleaners and janitors, in the Harijan Colony are not to be relocated –Inko yaha se nahi nikalna hai. They have served the people and the state for the last 200 years. –Inhonone pichle do sau saal se yahan sewa ki hai, kyun nikalna hai inko?

Jagadish Hiremani, Member, National Commission for Safai Karamcharis

“They have only a small chunk of land, why should the government relocate them? They have done manual scavenging for two centuries, it is inhuman to forcibly relocate them,” he added.

During his visit on 27 June, the Harijan Colony residents sought the intervention of the National Safai Karamchari Mission and urged the member “to understand the dynamics of the issue of our habitat which is under an illegal challenge by the government of Meghalaya, especially through the Shillong Municipal Board and the one-sided High-level committee formed by the Meghalaya government a year ago.”

Welcoming Jagadish Hiremani to the under-construction Gurdwara in the colony, City Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee President Gurjit Singh said, “History stands testimony to the hard work and contribution of the poorest Mazhabi Sikhs in the Punjabi lane of Shillong and history will not forgive the government of Meghalaya if they forcibly relocate the Sikhs there. History is also overlooking the role of student organisations with a divisive agenda. History will also record the role of Government Commissions and ministries in undoing injustice to the beleaguered Shillong Sikhs.”

Narrating their woes, Gurjit Singh added that the “Poor Safai Karamcharis serving through hard labour doing what the rest of the society calls ‘dirty jobs’ are being made soft targets and many others around the area are going scot-free -untouched and unscathed. No benefits for the social welfare of our people as mandated under various laws and government schemes has been given to Safai Karamcharis of the area, in utter violation of the laws of the land.”

Jagadish Hiremani reassured the Harijan Colony residents that justice will be done to them and that the Commission would endorse their non-relocation from their habitat.

Addressing the media, Jagadish Hiremani said, “This problem is not unique to Meghalaya alone. There are similar problems in other states too. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu also faced a similar predicament, but they had resolved the issue amicably.”

He went to narrate how as per an order of the Supreme Court of India in 1972, manual scavengers in the country must be rehabilitated by giving them all facilities of education, housing and health. He said, “the issues of the Harijan Colony could have been resolved then if the state government had followed that order.

When a member of the press corps said that the Harijan Colony area is a big slum and there is no need for clearance for cleanliness and sanitation, the NCSK member retorted “If the local bodies and the state government make a plan, the commission is ready to sanction the amount from the Prime Minister housing scheme, whereby it will no longer be a slum. After so many decades, people’s sentiments are attached to the place.”

In a major relief to more than 250 households of the Sikh Safai Karamcharis and scores of other Safai Karamcharis in Meghalaya, Jagadish Hiremani directed the government of Meghalaya to pay Rs. 9000 per month, at the rate of Rs. 300 per month per day as per the minimum wage fixed by the government of Meghalaya from 1 July 2019 onwards, with arrears of the last six months.

He pointed out to the media that there are places of worship there. There is a school. All religious and social institutions have been given Pattas. What will you do about them?

In a major relief to more than 250 households of the Sikh Safai Karamcharis and scores of other Safai Karamcharis in Meghalaya, Jagadish Hiremani directed the government of Meghalaya to pay Rs. 9000 per month, at the rate of Rs. 300 per month per day as per the minimum wage fixed by the government of Meghalaya from 1 July 2019 onwards, with arrears of the last six months.  It may be mentioned that till recently, these employees were getting only Rs. 3200 per month as salary and they continue to be ‘temporary employees’ for the last so many years. Jagadish Hiremani also directed the administrative officials to make them permanent employees to which the state authorities have agreed to do in a phased manner.

He also ordered a slew of other benefits including provision of health and safety gadgets on a regular basis as well as jobs to a family member when a serving Safai Karamchari passes away or retires.

Speaking with The World Sikh News, Jagadish Hiremani said, “I have clearly told all departments that till a final decision is made in the matter of the Harijan Colony, all facilities and benefits must be continuously given to them as per law. Their shops which have been closed under pressure must be opened and no department must harass them.”

Jagadish Hiremani acknowledged that the residents of the Harijan Colony have served the State for more than 200 years and there is enough documentation to prove that the traditional king of the tribals- Syiem of Mylliem, prior to the formation of the state of Meghalaya had given them the land.

Gurjit Singh posed this question during his interaction with the member of NCSK: “Why does the government of Meghalaya, the Khasi Students Union and the underground bodies want the mere 2.5 acres of land where a few thousand poor residents live?”

“Why does the government of Meghalaya, the Khasi Students Union and the underground bodies want the mere 2.5 acres of land where a few thousand poor residents live?”

Gurjit Singh, Secretary, Harijan Panchayat Committee

The Memorandum submitted by the Harijan Panchayat Committee outlined the genesis of the issue by saying that, “With the development of Shillong city and its vicinity, the Sweepers Colony area now happens to be in the heart of the city with the value of land is sky-rocketing. So, the government and other unscrupulous elements want to commercially develop this place by uprooting the poor Sikhs under one pretext or the other.  The poorest of the poor are being made scapegoats in the name of slum clearance and clearing congestion. A complete review will see that the illegal and unlawful intervention of the Shillong Municipal Board has led to the opening a Petrol station in the area and illegal allotment of shops is actually the sole reason for the congestion and illegal growth. The poorest are still living a measly life of bare existence. There are other shops and houses in the area, which are not being touched. We are being grossly discriminated.”

“Our forefathers were invited by the then British Indian army and they made the Bara Bazar area their home 200 years ago. Since then Shillong is our home. Scavenging and cleaning the streets and cantonment area of Shillong, these poorest of the poor did these tasks for a living and many still continue to do so. None of the local population was willing to do the ‘dirty job’, he added.

“In 1863, the traditional King of the area -Syiem of Mylliem allotted the land to us and this has been confirmed in a 2008 declaration given by the then King to the Harijan Panchayat Committee. Due to the illegal intervention by the Shillong Municipal Board, we have not obtained Pattas for the whole area, but we do have Pattas from the traditional King for a Gurdwara, a Valmiki Mandir, a Durga Mata Mandir and the Guru Nanak Upper Primary School.”

Despite the assurance of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, it would be a sad day for human rights, social rights, right to housing and democracy if an ungrateful Meghalaya government forcibly tries to evict the poor Sikhs.

“Since 1951, the residents of this area have exercised their right to franchise with their addresses of this area.”

The Member of the Commission, Jagadish Hiremani, during the press meet stated that the HLC should not have issued notices to the settlers of the colony when the matter is pending before the court.

The NCSK member chided the government of Meghalaya for having the lowest minimum daily wage of Rs. 300 in the country whereas the central government’s minimum wage is Rs. 605.

“All the archival records of the last two centuries of various departments of Shillong and the Meghalaya government officially call this place Sweepers Colony.  This alone is substantial proof of our 200-year old residence.”

Putting it very simply to drive the point home, residents of the Harijan Colony in their memorandum have stated that, “all the archival records of the last two centuries of various departments of Shillong and the Meghalaya government officially call this place Sweepers Colony.  This alone is substantial proof of our 200-year old residence.”

Despite the assurance of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis, it would be a sad day for human rights, social rights, right to housing and democracy, if an ungrateful Meghalaya government forcibly tries to evict the poor Sikhs who have remarkably served the city for two centuries. It would be a travesty of justice.

With inputs from Rohit Singh in Shillong