Several manual scavengers, liberated by an NGO, will tie rakhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan on Saturday.

The group of five women will also hand over 1,000 rakhis to Mr. Modi designed by the widows from Vrindavan and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, who have been looked after by the NGO Sulabh International.

“Tying Rakhis to the Prime Minister will be a major symbol against the existing stigma towards manual scavengers. It is a sad thing that widows have been considered inauspicious and manual scavengers as untouchables,” said Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International.