Low-Caste Indians Carve a Niche

Savitri Kabirdas, bending over, repairs a village pump assisted by Sundhi Kolin, left, and Bhuri Raidas. Pump repair used to be a male preserve, but women from India's lowest castes are working as mechanics. (Rama Lakshmi -- The Washington Post)

Development workers say that training women as mechanics makes perfect sense. "Water is a woman's burden. When a hand pump breaks down, women bear the brunt. It is only logical that women should have access, control and power over their water source," said Raj Kumar Daw, a senior water officer for UNICEF in New Delhi. The U.N. agency has supported local initiatives to train women to repair hand pumps in seven Indian states.

Female mechanics such as Kabirdas are hired by local councils and earn three to four dollars for each job.

The 40-day training that the women received from the male government mechanics in 1994 was not easy.

"All the names of hand pump parts were in English," said Sundhi Kolin, 45, as she followed Kabirdas toward the repair site. "So we learned them by naming a fat woman 'cylinder,' calling a slender woman a 'pipe wrench.' Another was called 'lifter.' "

After an hour-long walk, Kabirdas and her team reached the broken hand pump at Bandhin village.

They pushed back stacks of colorful glass bangles on their wrists and began to dismantle the 450-foot-deep pump and well assembly by removing the handle and water tank. A total of 10 long metal pipes were lifted one by one. After two hours of grueling work, the pump's cylinder was finally extracted.

"The ceiling ring of the cylinder is broken. We will replace it," Kabirdas explained to the men.

Three hours later, as the water gushed out, beaming village women began to line up with their pots and buckets.

"These women mechanics have not just repaired hand pumps. They are role models. They have changed the way women are perceived," said Madhavi Kuckreja, of Vanangana, a women's group that works with the mechanics. The mechanics also report cases of domestic violence they hear of during their visits to the villages.

The Brahmins have also grudgingly accepted the lower-caste mechanics.

"Today the untouchables not only touch our water, they are also touching our water source," said Balmukund Mishra, 42, a shopkeeper. "It would be unwise to resist change. We cannot do without water."