What profession doesn’t get enough credit or respect?

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Food and water are our basic needs. We cannot live without food. Farmer grow food, truck drivers deliver food items to retailers and from there we, buy our food. No doubt, work of farmers, truck drivers and retailers are very important. Also, the work of teachers, doctors, engineers and policemen etc. is very important but people don’t acknowledge the work of the sweepers and the staff engaged in the waste management and garbage treatment in our cities, town and villages.

 

Our activities produce various types of wastes and garbage. Collection, disposal and treatment of wastes and garbage are becoming a big problem in our cities. However, we don’t realize how important is the waste management and sewage treatment till we face problems. When sewers get chocked and sewage flows on streets, we get disturbed because of its bad odor and harmful effects. So, the work of these people becomes very important for maintaining our cities and towns.

However, in many parts of the world, works of sweeping, cleaning, garbage collection, waste and sewage management are not considered respectable and people look down upon workers engaged in these professions. In India, where work related to sweeping, cleaning, sewage and waste management is still done manually, these tasks are entrusted to a particular community whose status is the lowest in the society. Other people don’t like to touch them and think their work dirty and unhygienic. In India, every year hundreds of workers are killed by poisonous gases while cleaning of choked sewers and drainages. Also, these people are not given much salary. Many of them earn less than two dollars per day. Manual scavenging is still done in some parts of the country despite of a ban on it. These poor people are not welcomed by the society, despite of their very important work. 

In India, some people buy old newspapers, books, worn-out machine parts, useless metal parts, wires, broken plastic parts etc. and sell them for recycling. Normally, people don’t realize their importance. We know that it requires mining to get mineral ores and after loads of processes we get metals. These actions put a heavy pressure on the resources of earth and harm environment. By collecting metals and other things and sending them for recycling, these people contribute a lot to preserve environment. However, their work doesn’t get admiration. People insult these ‘rag pickers’ and don’t like them. 

(Images credited from pixabay.com)

If these people stop working, it will become impossible to live in our cities and towns. Work of these people is very important for the survival of our cities and towns.  These professions don’t get enough credit and respect which they deserve. These people’s life is very hard but we ignore them because of our ignorance, arrogance and selfishness.