2018-04-12 : Eviction notice to Dhobis: neither the service provider nor the users consulted

(Editor's Note: This is much a deja-vu of situation in 2010, see 2010-09-20 : Update from Hamara Manch [Eviction of dhobis],

We are maintaining updates on Forcing washermen(dhobi) and their families out of the campus)

On 28^th March, 2018, seventeen families who have been providing laundry services to the Institute community, have got an eviction notice from the Estate office of the Institute, asking them to vacate the premises within a month or else face the consequences. The notice declares that these families have been illegally occupying the premises under The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971 and that their license to work also has been revoked with immediate effect. This basically implies that the seventeen families (including about fifty family members) have not only been rendered homeless but also deprived of their livelihood from the 28^th of April. It also means that the 3000 odd students who avail of their services, and who have not been informed or consulted about this move, would have to make alternate arrangements. But the Institute did take care to ensure that the students would not be much inconvenienced given that the semester is coming to an end. And more importantly the students would not be around when the Institute would take ‘appropriate measures’ to enforce the eviction of the ‘illegal occupants’.

Background

When the Institute was set up in the present premises, which was far from the city limits, the founding Director Prof Kelkar had requested a group of dhobis to come and provide the essential services to the campus residents. The dhobis were promised an appropriate work station – including access to clean water, space to dry the clothes and store them safely, and residential quarters for the families. The space was licensed in the name of the main male member but as is understood the work would not be possible without the help of several family members. A typical day constitutes of collecting the clothes room to room, washing them, drying them, ironing them and then getting them back to the user. Over the years the children of the original group of dhobis have taken up the work and have continued to serve the community efficiently and seamlessly. Several generations of students have availed their services including several who have come back as faculty members of the Institute. And yet in spite of their diligent services and the initial commitment made to them by the founding Director, the Institute has not acknowledged their contributions. On the contrary they have been systematically withdrawing several facilities from them. HM had picked up their cause the last time they got a legal eviction notice in 2010, and with the support of the community, that could be stalled.

Let us briefly look at the various reasons put forth by the Institute administration for the eviction of dhobis.

The Reasons Provided by the Institute Administration

The Institute administration is providing a bunch of reasons for the planned eviction, and many of them seem contradictory to each other. Given below point wise are the various reasons for the proposed eviction and HM’s response to each of them.

1. Dhobis are no longer providing laundry services and are in fact responsible for drug trafficking in the campus

Much before the eviction notice there was a newspaper report in December 2017 (Dainik Jagran, Kanpur edition, 08/12/2017), stating the above claims. The claim that they ‘do not wash clothes anymore’ is surprising given the fact that the dhobis service around half the student population in the campus. Further there is no evidence that any of the dhobis have been involved in providing drugs – so this is a completely unsubstantiated claim. The news item also claims that given the gravity of the allegations the District administration also has helpfully committed to provide adequate assistance to evict these dhobis. It is a matter of concern that ‘unsubstantiated’ news internal to the Institute should appear in the media without the community being aware of it.

2. Dhobis are no longer required as most students are using washing machines

Not true as has been stated above, in fact the number of washing machines are not even adequate to cater to the needs of the students. More importantly the students prefer to avail of the convenience of getting their clothes laundered – washed, dried and ironed at such reasonable charges. The laundry charges went up by a factor of 10 when a large operator was brought in place as in the VH

3. The Institute plans to make alternate arrangement – providing adequate washing machines, bringing in ‘professional laundry services’ so the students would not be inconvenienced.

It is surprising that given the fact there are so many issues requiring immediate attention and action the Institute prioritises in dismantling a service which has been going on effectively for over 50 years. A move which would lead not only to the loss of livelihood of families who have served the community so diligently over these long years but also inconvenience the users – students. The move is particularly surprising as the Institute keeps claiming that there is a severe funds crunch. The washing machines and the centralised space to house them in combination with maintenance and running charges would perhaps mean an extra expense of tens of lakhs in each hall. Further it is difficult to comprehend as to why the livelihood of these dhobis should be sacrificed to bring in large players which would make services much more costly for the users too.

4. The space occupied by the Dhobis is required for building new hostels to meet the residential needs of the increasing student strength in the Institute

The dhobis are quite keen to cooperate on this count the only demand they have is that they are provided appropriate space and facility to carry out their services efficiently. This would mean access to water, space for drying and ironing, storage and given this is a 24x7 exercise the residence cannot be in a separate space, it needs to be in proximity of their work space. Given that the Institute has the funds to buy and house washing machines, this basic demand should not be very difficult to accommodate.

5. Apparently there is a government direction wherein all campuses need to keep at least 30 percent of clear space (un-built area) and since the Institute has been constructing several buildings over the past years the erstwhile ‘clear spaces’ have become occupied hence a built area needs to be cleared. This is for environmental concerns.

Point number 5 and point number 4 cannot be both true.
Further it belies logic as to how replacing families (men, women and children) working with their hands with washing machines and other gadgets (with much larger ecological footprints), and inviting large companies to provide services, would make things more environmentally friendly

In conclusion

We as community members are consistently surprised at the opaque procedures adopted by the administration on matters which affect the community – wherein neither the users nor the service providers are taken into confidence. It happened in the case of the new VH contract too (in the recent past) which caused several workers to lose their jobs, serious dislocation of services of the facility for months and all this at a substantially higher cost to the Institute.
Why does the Institute treat diligent service providers and workers (in this case a set of people who have served the campus community for over 50 years) as criminals and illegal occupants and hands them out legal eviction notice?
Why can they not be accorded at least some dignity if not a formal acknowledgement of their services? After all as several students pointed out but for the reliable and consistent services of these people they would not have been able to study, do research, become faculty or director even. The Institute has nurtured over 50 batches of students – should the contribution of those who have ensured that it was possible remain invisible and unacknowledged?
Even if the Institute deems that their services are no longer required why cannot they (or their descendents) be placed in suitable alternate employment instead of being unceremoniously evicted?

All these issues need to be addressed by the community and the Institute, but meanwhile the deadline for eviction is merely a fortnight away. Given the above and the urgency of the situation we as community have the following demands:

There are a significant number of students availing of the services of the dhobis and they would like to continue to do so. Therefore the present arrangement for laundry services should continue.
Should the Institute need the space occupied by the dhobis now, an appropriate work-residence space should be provided where they can continue their work with dignity.
The above arrangement may take a while – so while it gets worked out the status quo should continue – the eviction notice should be withdrawn immediately

Hamara Manch