The struggle started 28 years ago against the practice of carrying human excreta on heads in Ranpur

Ranpur village, located in the Dhandhuka taluka of Ahmedabad district, became the centre of a serious social controversy in the year 1996. In this village, Dalit sanitation workers started a struggle against the extremely shameful and inhuman practice of carrying human excreta on their heads instead of cleaning it by hand. The social and legal battle against this practice began in 1996, which sparked discussion across Gujarat.

Ranpur village is situated on the banks of two rivers, Bhadar and Goma. According to the 1991 census figures, the total number of Dalits in this village was 582. The sub-castes included in this Scheduled Caste were Rohit, Vankar, and Valmiki communities. Approximately 100 families lived in the Rohitvas of the village, 34 in the Vankar community, and 20 in the Valmiki community.

The truth about this practice came to light when 'Times of India' journalist Rajiv Shah published a report on March 11, 1996. He reported the news with the headline 'Shameful practice of carrying human excreta on heads still exists in Ranpur today'. In a conversation with BBC Gujarati, Rajiv Shah stated that this report was printed on the front page of 'Times of India' and was subsequently published in its second edition as well. He noted that a register was also being maintained in the village for those who carried excreta on their heads, in which the names of some people were recorded. Dalit activist Martin McCaffrey played a major role in drawing people's attention to this entire matter.

After the report was published, the village was divided into two parts. On one side, non-Dalits, Gram Panchayat officials, and government officials claimed that no such practice existed in Ranpur and that newspaper reports were misleading. On the other side, villagers claimed that the sanitation workers had gone on an illegal strike, and therefore the authorities had the right to take action against them. Conversely, Dalits alleged that they were being stigmatised by the authorities.

Village leader Shashikant Kalma expressed intense anger regarding this situation at a meeting held in the Ramji temple. He stated that a total of 45 sanitation workers were working in the Panchayat, of whom 36 had been working as daily wage labourers for the last 4 to 25 years. Among these sanitation workers, 6 were sweepers, 4 were manure heap collectors, 15 were gutter cleaning workers, and about 4 were engaged in carrying excreta on their heads. According to Shashikant Kalma, on 24-01-1996, all sanitation workers were dismissed and their attendance was stopped. For the last two and a half to three months, all these sanitation workers had been sitting at home, and their condition was extremely dire.

Dalit women, standing outside the temple and expressing their helplessness, said that they had been living hungry or semi-hungry for the last two months. Despite falling at the feet of the villagers, no one's heart melted, and instead, they were being abused. Due to this economic crisis, they had to manage their livelihood by selling utensils or taking loans. Shashikant Kalma added that on one hand, they could not go to work, and on the other, the lack of salary was causing anxiety regarding feeding their children.

To investigate and provide an opinion on this entire incident, T.D. Soyantar, Dr. Rameshchandra Parmar, Pradipkumar Pachpinde, a worker from 'Centre for Social Studies' Surat, and workers from 'Navsarjan Trust' visited the site. Dr. Rameshchandra Parmar has depicted the happenings in the village through a booklet titled 'Haath ma Jhadu, Maathe Melu' (Broom in hand, excreta on head).

Ranpur village is the workplace of Amrutlal Dalpatbhai Sheth and the renowned poet and writer Zaverchand Meghani.