Tidy up! Best rag-picker awards coming soon

The services of rag-pickers  will henceforth be recognised by the Government, which has decided to give national award to them for their contribution to keep India clean. The national award, with a cash prize of `1.5 lakh, will be given to three best rag-pickers and three associations involved in innovation of best practices, said Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday 

Nearly 62 million tonnes of waste are generated in the country annually. “This is expected to increase to 165 million tonnes by 2030 and 450 million tonnes by 2050,” he said. But what is really a source of concern is that nearly 68 per cent of waste and sewage is not even treated in the country currently.

There are millions of rag pickers in the country. “This informal sector has saved the country. They are doing a good job and I have decided to recognise their efforts. We will grant national award,” said the minister at an event on waste management. In the given situation, these rag-pickers are helping to certain extent in handling waste, he added.  

The Minister, however, called for setting up of a credible agency like the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) that can guide municipal bodies to take measures to address waste management in a scientific way. At present, the agencies that handle solid waste are working on contractual basis which has failed miserably. “Handling waste cannot always be a profitable business and it is time that the Urban Ministry build a credible agency like the DMRC that can give scientific guidance,” he said.

The Minister also mentioned that there is no dearth of fund for waste management. “What is lacking is scientific guidance to handle different kinds of waste,” he said.Providing solution to the large quantity of untreated waste and sewage in the country, Javadekar said that current rules are being revised to ensure every village of over 5,000 population has a waste treatment plant.

He  further said the new draft norms on waste management, fort developing a strong mechanism to address the above concerns on different kinds of waste in the country would be implemented from August-end after reviewing public comments.