UNiFEED Story: UN / INDIA UNTOUCHABLES (2.55), In India, thousands of low caste women are paid to clean human waste from open-air toilets, as basic sanitation still eludes millions in the countryside. A group of former manual scavenger women who now have other means of livelihood, thanks to a rehabilitation program run by an Indian NGO are in New York to participate in a series of events being organized to mark the International Year of Sanitation. UNTV

03 July 2008

UN / INDIA UNTOUCHABLES (2.55)

In India, thousands of low caste women are paid to clean human waste from open-air toilets, as basic sanitation still eludes millions in the countryside. A group of former manual scavenger women who now have other means of livelihood, thanks to a rehabilitation program run by an Indian NGO are in New York to participate in a series of events being organized to mark the International Year of Sanitation. UNTV

Broadcast Quality Downloads

Broadcast-quality video for UNifeed stories is available online for two weeks. Should you wish to request older material, please contact the agency source of the material. For UNTV or peacekeeping stories, please contact the UN Video Library.

Full Script

STORY: UN / INDIA UNTOUCHABLES
SOURCE: UNTV / SULABH HANDOUT
TRT: 2.55
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 2 JULY 2008, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior UN building

2 JULY 2008, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY

2. Zoom in, symbolic coronation
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Usha Chaumar, former scavenger and President of the Sulabh Sanitation Mission Foundation:
"I have been trained in embroidery, stitching and making papadum and pickles. Earlier, I was illiterate, I did not know how to read and write. Today, I am standing in front of all of you."
4. Pan right, delegates applauding
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh:
"And so, Gandhi, if you take his words, he said: I will not be born again, but if it happens, I would like to be born into a family of scavengers, so that I could relieve them from this unhealthy, hateful practice of collecting night soil."

FILE – SULABH - RECENT, INDIA

6. Various shots, scavenger women at work

2 JULY 2008, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh:
"They said: Ok, we are ready to leave, but what will we eat? Because by doing this dirty job we get our livelihood. So I set up an institute called Nai Disha, a 'New Direction', and I gave them a stipend. And also we give them education and training."
8. Wide shot, Usha Chaumar and fashion model walking on runway towards camera
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh:
"So the technologies that we have developed earlier for India, now these technologies can help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The goal is to provide toilets to half of the population of 2.5 billion by 2015, and to all by 2025."
10. Various shots, fashion show

STORYLINE

In India, thousands of low caste women are paid to clean human waste from open-air toilets, as basic sanitation still eludes millions in the countryside.

A group of former manual scavenger women from Alwar, in India's northwest, are in New York to participate in a series of events being organized to mark the International Year of Sanitation.

Usha Chaumar, president of the Sulabh Sanitation Mission Foundation and a former scavenger, was crowned symbolically "Princess of Alwar" by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's Chief of Staff, Vijay Nambiar.

Ms. Chaumar, speaking at UN headquarters related her journey from being a scavenger who "did not know how to read and write" to "standing in front of all of you" addressing an international conference in New York.

Sanitation expert and founder of Sulabh, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, is responsible for helping transform the lives of these women through various programs that ensured better means of livelihood like embroidery and making noodles and pickles.
                                                                                                              
These women worked under the guidance of famous Indian designer Abdul Halder stitching clothing and taking part in a fashion show at UN headquarters, walking the runway alongside the models.

Dr. Pathak observed that Mahatma Gandhi wanted to end the practice of manual scavenging and bring scavengers to the national mainstream.

He said that these women were ready to abandon scavenging, but their livelihood depended on "doing this dirty job". He explained that he then "set up an Institute called Nai Disha, a New Direction, and I gave them a stipend. And also we give them education and training."

Each one of them is now an active member of a group to motivate her scavenger community to resign the lives of drudgery and humiliation.

Most toilets built in 20th century India were dry latrines with a water-fed flushing system, due to the expense of pour-flush systems and the scarcity of water. In addition, many did not have formal sanitation.

Dr. Pathak said the technologies he has developed for India can now "help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. The goal is to provide toilets to half of the population of 2.5 billion by 2015, and to all by 2025."

Since 1970, Dr. Pathak's Sulabh International has worked to liberate India's scavengers by employing low-cost, safe sanitation technology. Over the course of three decades, Sulabh has built a commercially viable business model with a significant development impact.

Sulabh has developed 26 toilet designs for varying budgets and locations, training 19,000 masons to build low-cost twin-pit toilets using locally available material. It has also installed more than 1.4 million household toilets, and it maintains more than 6,500 public pay-per-use facilities.

Its technology has freed 60,000 people from a life of scavenging.

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

Breadcrumb Trail

Services

UN / INDIA UNTOUCHABLES (2.55)

Broadcast Quality Downloads

Full Script

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31