Bezwada Wilson is an Indian activist, best known as one of the founders and national convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), a movement campaigning for the abolition of manual scavenging and employment of manual scavengers in India. Is a human rights organization.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Bezwada Wilson was born in 1966 (age 54 years; as of 2020) in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF), Kolar, Karnataka. He studied in a manual scavenging school till the fourth grade and then went to an upper primary school in Andhra Pradesh. During his middle schooling, his family moved to Hyderabad, where he also did his high schooling and intermediate schooling. During class twelfth, she left her school and started conducting functional literacy classes every evening for women from Telugu-speaking families of manual scavengers. He later completed 12th and graduated with a degree in Political Science from Dr. BR Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad, and became involved in community service, especially youth programs.
Physical Appearance
Eye colour: black
Hair Color: Salt and Pepper
family and caste
Bezwada Wilson belonged to a Dalit (Thoti) Christian family. His parents, Bezwada Rachel and Bezwada Jacob, were manual scavengers. He is the youngest of his parents’ four children; He has two brothers named Yesupadam and Mark and a sister named Annamma.
Bezwada Wilson (second from right) with her siblings Yesupadam, Mark and Annamma at their KGF home
livelihood
Bezwada started her career as an activist by educating her family and relatives about manual scavenging. In 1986, he began reaching out and educating other sanitation workers. Soon, he began a letter-writing campaign contacting KGF officials, Karnataka ministers, the Prime Minister of India, and newspapers, largely going unrecognized. In 1993, the ‘Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act’ was enacted by the Parliament, according to which, construction of dry latrines was banned and the practice of manual scavenging was declared illegal. . Despite the ban, manual scavenging continues across India. Later, Bezwada took photographs of dry latrines and manual scavenging at KGF and sent it to PAK Shettigar, then managing director of Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML) and threatened action under the Act. After that, an emergency meeting was held and the dry toilets were converted into water-sealed toilets and all the cleaning staff were shifted to non-cleaning duties. When the photographs were published in Indian newspapers in 1994, the Karnataka government had to admit about the problem of manual scavenging, which it had previously denied. Over the next two years Bezwada organized manual scavengers in Karnataka and launched the Campaign Against Manual Scavenging (CAMS), monitoring the conversion of dry latrines to flush toilets and the rehabilitation of manual scavengers. Wilson then moved to Andhra Pradesh and began working with Paul Diwakar, a prominent Dalit activist, and SR Shankaran, a retired Indian civil servant, to inspire sanitation workers to fight against caste-based occupation.
sanitation workers movement
In 1993, he founded the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) with SR Shankaran and Paul Diwakar, with the aim of eliminating the practice of manual scavenging and helping people engaged in this practice find better means of livelihood. Until 2003, SKA worked in Karnataka until Bezwada and other members of his team launched the nationwide Safai Karmachari Andolan in Delhi.
logo of sanitation workers movement
In 2003, Bezwada and SKA filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India, asking for the abolition of dry latrines and recognition of manual scavenging as a violation of the fundamental rights of the people doing such work . PIL became a major step when all Indian states and central ministries were forced to address the problem of manual scavenging. Emancipation of sanitation workers became an important issue during the planning of India’s twelfth five-year plan in 2010. During this, Bezwada met MPs, Ministers and National Advisory Members and presented systematic documentation of manual scavenging across the country. In October 2010, National Advisory Council (NAC) chief Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office declaring the practice of manual scavenging a national shame and asking for its eradication to be addressed with utmost urgency and priority. NAC pledged to ensure that manual scavenging is eliminated by 2012. The Government of India formed a task force to conduct a new survey of the entire country, conduct rehabilitation, amend the law to make it stricter and demolish dry latrines. The Planning Commission of India also formed a sub-group on sanitation workers and made Bezwada its convenor.
Controversy
On 31 December 2017, Maharashtra Police arrested Varavara Rao (activist and writer), Vernon Gonsalves (writer), Arun Ferreira (activist), Sudha Bhardwaj (activist), and Gautam Navlakha (activist), and raided the homes of several other activists. But raided. Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), as part of the investigation into the ‘Elgar Parishad’ conference at Bhima Koregaon village near Pune. In January 2018, Bezwada Wilson, along with other civil society members, demanded action against the Maharashtra Police for launching a “vicious and malicious attack” against human rights activists across the country.
award
- Elected as Ashoka Senior Fellow for Human Rights in 2009
- Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2016
Bezwada Wilson kissing his Ramon Magsaysay Award
- Ram Govinda Awards 2019, organized by Smt. D. Ramabai Charitable Foundation and Shri M. Gopinath Shenoy Charitable Trust at Kalamandir
Bezwada Wilson with his Ram Govinda Award
- Real Hero Award by Rajdeep Sardesai from CNN-IBN in partnership with Reliance Industries Limited
Bezwada Wilson receives Real Hero Award
Facts/General Knowledge
- She is an avid reader and mainly reads books on politics, philosophy and women’s issues. He also likes reading material related to cooking, sports, business, stock market and income tax.
- His parents were separated for seven years and were reunited only a year before his birth.
- According to Wilson, his mother called him a miracle child and was determined to educate him, unlike his other siblings who never received an education.
- As soon as he came out of his school (in 1986), he was disgusted and horrified to see people manually cleaning human excreta from dry toilets. When he told his parents what he saw, he was faced with the fact that his parents were doing the same thing. This came as a shock to him as he did not know that he belonged to a ‘Thoti’ family. Filled with pain, he thought of suicide but somehow decided to live and make the lives of such people better.
- After passing out from his school, Wilson went to look for a job at the Employment Exchange Office, where he was told that because of his caste, he would be given the job of a sanitation worker. He became angry and decided to return to Kolar and inspire the Dalits there to revolt against caste-based occupation.
- In his fight to improve the lives of manual scavengers, his family was the first hurdle he faced; His parents and relatives believed that he should not focus on something that had always existed, but they came within a year because they saw his enthusiasm for eliminating the practice of manual scavenging. saw.
- In 2016, Wilson and SKA launched the ‘Bhima Yatra’, a journey covering 500 districts in 30 states in 125 days to highlight worker deaths caused by hazardous fumes while working in dry latrines, sewers and septic tanks. About was launched to address the country and the government. Tank.
Bezwada Wilson during Bhim Yatra
- He is a follower of BR Ambedkar and was introduced to his (Ambedkar’s) ideas – educate, agitate and organize – during a cycle trip in his area.
- In July 2012, she was seen in the Indian television talk show Satyamev Jayate (Season 1) hosted by Aamir Khan. In the show he talked about his childhood experiences and reflected on the inhumane practice of manual scavenging.
Bezwada Wilson in Satyamev Jayate
- According to Wilson, he never faced caste-based discrimination until he moved out of his hometown. He said,
I noticed there was something different – let’s say, while playing – but didn’t understand that it was discrimination. Later I realized that we are not like others. we are different. People also made us feel that you are inferior to others. I didn’t fully understand and didn’t want to admit it. But they didn’t give me any option.”
- When he grew up, he had no plans for his career. However, he loved reading and thought he could become a librarian so he could work while also reading.
- In 2020, he appeared with actor Anoop Soni in the Karamveer special of Kaun Banega Crorepati, hosted by Amitabh Bachchan.
Bezwada Wilson in Kaun Banega Crorepati
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn