Work

Caste still decides who does which work and who profits from it, from India's sewers to global tech.

Sanitation Work

Story

Sanitation work off the books

How are sanitation workers employed, and which records say what caste they are?

Updated 11 Oct 2026

Exhibit 5

In PLFS 2023-24, SCs were 45.28% of refuse workers and other elementary workers and 32.20% of cleaners and helpers, against 19.76% of all workers

SC share, %, of workers in two occupation sub-divisions of the National Classification of Occupations 2015, India, July 2023 to June 2024, by usual status (principal and subsidiary). Our estimate from survey unit data.

  1. Refuse Workers and Other Elementary Workers (NCO sub-division 96)45.3%
  2. Cleaners and Helpers (NCO sub-division 91)32.2%
Source: The Dalit Project’s estimates from PLFS July 2023 to June 2024 unit-level data (MoSPI, first visit), with the survey’s weights; occupation sub-divisions named as in the PLFS Annual Report 2023-24, Appendix C. Our estimate, not a figure MoSPI publishes. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 11 Oct 2026.
495,751contract, casual and daily-rated workers in the CPSEs as on 31 March 2020, with no category count13 of 318sanitation workers permanent in Dhenkanal Municipality, Odisha (survey, February 2023)

Tracker

Sewer and septic tank deaths

How many sanitation workers does the government count as dying in sewers and septic tanks, and do its own answers agree?

Updated 20 Oct 2026

Exhibit 1

The government’s count records 859 deaths in sewers and septic tanks from 2014 to 2025, and no fewer than 40 in any year

Sanitation workers who died in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, all India, by year, 2014 to 2025, as the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) counted them on 31 December 2025.

Source: Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 541, answered 3 February 2026 (18th Lok Sabha, session 7), Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, figures from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK). Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 20 Oct 2026.
859deaths in sewers and septic tanks, 2014 to 2025, the government’s count (Question 541)46cases where compensation had not been released, as on 31 December 2025

Story

Where no one counts: SCs in private employment

Private employers don’t report caste. What do official surveys, which ask people their own caste, show about SCs in salaried work and in owning a business?

Updated 11 Oct 2026

Exhibit 4

SCs held 14.6% of regular jobs in companies in 2023-24 and 20.0% in government and the public sector, against 19.8% of all workers

SC employees as a share of all regular wage or salaried employees, by type of employer, %, India, July 2023 to June 2024, usual status (ps+ss). Companies are in the accent colour. The dashed line is the SC share of all workers.

  1. Government, public sector and autonomous bodies20.0%
  2. Public or private limited companies14.6%
  3. Proprietary and partnership enterprises19.7%
  4. Private households employing domestic workers29.1%
  5. Co-operatives, trusts and others16.4%
  6. All employers18.7%
Source: The Dalit Project’s estimates from PLFS July 2023 to June 2024 unit-level data (MoSPI, first visit), with the survey’s weights. Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 11 Oct 2026.
14.6%of regular jobs in companies were held by SCs in 2023-24, against 19.8% of all workers (our estimate)33.2of every 100 SC workers were casual labourers in 2023-24, against 19.8 of all workers