About the Book

Princesses of Alwar: Past Tense Future Perfect is a compilation of well-documented real-life stories of women scavengers from Alwar district in Rajasthan-an arid state in India's north-west.

Manual scavenging has existed in India’s traditional social order since times immemorial. Those who perform the task attract a high degree of pollution in the social order and are treated as outcast or Untouchables commonly referred to as ‘Dalits’. They from the lowest rung of the society.

The Government of India has been trying to get rid of the practice that exists everywhere-manual lifting of night soil on the heads of these scavengers-mostly women. The task is huge and needs more efforts than currently being undertaken.

It is here that steps of private players assume significance. Sulabh has been involved in changing India’s toilet habit sense. It has also taken conscious efforts to bring these women scavengers out of the traditional practice of carrying night soil on their heads. This volume documents the stories of 49 women scavengers whose stories mark their plight, their aspiration and their march to glory under the guidance of Sulabh’s visionary Dr Bindeshwar Pathak.