F rom 1999 to 2004, Deepak Pawar faced a string of rejections from the arranged marriage market. He was a tall, lean man in his early twent...
From 1999 to 2004, Deepak Pawar faced a string of rejections from the arranged marriage market. He was a tall, lean man in his early twenties, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes. In the suburban Mumbai slum where he lived, most men his age had already tied the knot.
But to prospective brides and their families, Pawar was not eligible enough: he did not have a stable, well-paying job that could support a family.
Since 1998, Pawar had been working as a safai karamchari, or sanitation worker, responsible for sweeping garbage off the streets of Mumbai. It was a profession that many of the Maharashtrian Dalits in his slum had practiced for generations, but some were luckier than others.
Those who were employed directly by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, or BMC, enjoyed respectable wages, of Rs 9,000 or more, and all the social welfare benefits that came with a secure government job, such as insurance, pensions and sick leave. Workers like Pawar, on the other hand, were hired indirectly, by private contractors who were awarded BMC tenders for carrying out sanitation work.
Contract-based workers performed the same duties as the BMC’s permanent job-holders, and were supervised by the same municipal officers. But they were paid less than...
