This book examines the status of public health care services to marginalised and disadvantaged populations in India, sociological perspectives on illness and health, and manifest perceptions of illness and health. It emphasizes the need to address the longstanding issue of discriminatory practices towards specific caste-based occupational communities, such as the Hadis. It provides in-depth insights into the various stages of health-seeking behavior, the significance of healers within the social fabric of the Hadi caste, and the complex interplay of agencies and institutions that shape the perceptions of conservancy and menial workers regarding illness and health. The chapters unravel layers and sites of agencies and institutions shaping the perceptions of conservancy and menial workers about illness and health. It offers an avenue of research to readers and scholars interested in understanding perceptions of illness and health among caste-based occupational groups in India with the help of intensive fieldwork data. This book is intended for a diverse audience, including policymakers, urban development practitioners, ethnographers, public health academics, anthropologists and sociologists.

Autorentext

K. M. Ziyauddin is an Associate Professor and Head in the Department of Sociology at Maulana Azad National Urdu (central university) University, Hyderabad. His areas of research include exclusionary studies of minorities, the sociology of health and illness, public health and sanitation workers, SBM and Dalit studies, urban space and marginalisation, gender politics, sociology of minorities, and questions of identity and citizenship. A few of his book publications include Muslims of India: Exclusionary Process and Inclusionary Measures, Dimensions of Social Exclusion: An Ethnographic Exploration, Minorities in India: Forms and Perspectives, and Sociology of Health in a Dalit Community: Axes of Exclusion, as well as research papers published in national and international journals. He is an alumnus of the International Visitor Leadership Program of the US Department of State and co-founder of The Democracy Dialogue, India.