P.M. Modi's demonstration on doing any manual and menial task and treating everyone (irrespective of gender and caste) with dignity and respect

by Seva Lamberdar Sun Apr 18, 2021 7:18 am

P.M. Modi washes feet of sanitation workers
(Feb. 24, 2019 video):

by Seva Lamberdar Sun Apr 18, 2021 2:35 pm

Another video:

by Seva Lamberdar Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:15 am

The second video shows also the Prime Minister taking a seat afterwards which is at a lower level than the sanitation workers; really a great message on inspiration and respect for manual and menial jobs and people doing them.

by Seva Lamberdar Wed Apr 21, 2021 1:40 pm

What Prime Minister Modi demonstrated by his actions in the video is very important for raising awareness in society about the importance of manual and menial tasks and treating people doing manual and menial tasks with dignity and respect, instead of people staying away from manual and menial work while disrespecting (even as untouchable) those engaged in such work.

Please note the following (1 & 2) from my earlier blogs.

(1) "...to make castes and caste labels less relevant in society, politicians and government should stop using caste for vote banks and quotas. If government needs to give help to the needy it should be on the basis of their economic condition and not caste or religion. Similarly, to get over the untouchability concerns related to certain vocations and tasks in society, politicians and officials need to demonstrate to public that they themselves are ready and willing to do the same type of work and tasks. Moreover, instead of giving quotas in education etc. to people so that manual and menial workers can train and seek other kinds of work, government should increase the remuneration for work they already are doing. This way the value and importance of their work will increase in the eyes of others in society. Moreover, when they get more money for the effort they are already putting into their work, they will become rich and their standard of living will improve.They will also be better able to pay for their own expenses, including for their children’s education, without needing any outside help (from government etc.)..."
Ref.: Subhash C. Sharma, "Caste through the sands of time," March 16, 2010, http://creative.sulekha.com/caste-through-the-sands-of-time_465740_blog

(2) "Practical steps to end untouchability quickly and effectively (Appendix):

"As indicated in the comment / answer to question (2), there are two important aspects to untouchability, poverty and lowly tasks.

"People (especially the “untouchables”) end up being excluded from the social mainstream because of their poor economic condition. The best solution to this problem is to help poor people (including by Govt.) according to their economic condition (poverty line or limit) rather than their caste (ancestors’ occupation) or religion (where, how and to whom people pray).

"Moreover, the work performed by poor people (including the untouchables), even though very important to society, is usually manual and menial and it is considered by others as lowly. People, usually the well-to-do, try to shy away from such lowly work and also shun those doing it. The effective solution to this problem is to bring a change in the attitude of people so that they don’t mind undertaking manual and menial tasks and don’t shun the workers engaged in such tasks. Thus there is a need for important people in society, including ministers, politicians, leaders, officials etc., to carry out public demonstrations (in front of the media) where they engage in cleaning the public toilets and washrooms and sweeping the roads and streets. This will quickly get rid of the taboos about manual and menial work and end discrimination according to occupations."
Ref.: Subhash C. Sharma, "Some questions (comments) related to Hindu caste system," Jan. 25, 2011 (Appendix: Aug. 21, 2012), http://creative.sulekha.com/some-questions-comments-related-to-hindu-caste-system_595419_blog

by Seva Lamberdar Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:50 am

In addition (as #3),

(3) ".. the Govt., through its caste based quotas and reservations, is also giving a negative impression about the cleaning and sanitation work, and this is encouraging people (including children from sanitation workers’ families) to go into other types of jobs (mainly office work). As a result, there are less numbers of people available to work in sanitation, causing the environment and facilities to get dirtier. This should also change. Govt. needs to make the sanitation profession more lucrative so that people working in it make more money and are able to pay for their children’s education etc. themselves and not rely on Govt.’s caste quotas and reservations to help them. Similarly, the sanitation work should be made easier and mechanized so that workers don’t have to handle filth with their bare hands etc. These changes in working conditions coupled with more money for sanitation work will lead to additional people, even from the current non-cleaning families, being drawn into cleaning and sanitation jobs. And that will be a good thing for the environment and society."

Ref.: Subhash C. Sharma, "Improving the sanitation situation in India," Aug. 23, 2008, http://web.archive.org/web/20090809230813/http://geocities.com/lamberdar/sanitation_india.html

by Seva Lamberdar Fri Apr 23, 2021 5:48 am

In case anyone missed it, there is a statement in the video (between 1.3 and 1.4) which indicates that Prime Minister not only washed the feet and felicitated the five sanitation workers, he also joined them during meals ('un-ke saath bhojan kiya' - उनके साथ भोजन किया).

Quite a step to end untouchability and caste discrimination and enhance respect for people doing lowly and menial tasks!

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P.M. Modi's demonstration on doing any manual and menial task and treating everyone (irrespective of gender and caste) with dignity and respect

P.M. Modi's demonstration on doing any manual and menial task and treating everyone (irrespective of gender and caste) with dignity and respect

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Re: P.M. Modi's demonstration on doing any manual and menial task and treating everyone (irrespective of gender and caste) with dignity and respect

Re: P.M. Modi's demonstration on doing any manual and menial task and treating everyone (irrespective of gender and caste) with dignity and respect

Re: P.M. Modi's demonstration on doing any manual and menial task and treating everyone (irrespective of gender and caste) with dignity and respect

Re: P.M. Modi's demonstration on doing any manual and menial task and treating everyone (irrespective of gender and caste) with dignity and respect

Re: P.M. Modi's demonstration on doing any manual and menial task and treating everyone (irrespective of gender and caste) with dignity and respect