Waste collectors from parts of the country shared their stories and their plea for inclusion and dignity for themselves in society. By Sharang Bhaskaran
long before the green economy concept was globally adopted, waste pickers and other recycling and waste workers in the informal economy have offered a public service with positive economic, social and environmental impact for their communities. For centuries they have been fighting to have their activities recognized as an occupation and to improve their working conditions, their status and their earnings. Yet today, most waste pickers are not recognised as public service providers or ‘green workers’ and have no clear links to formal industries or municipalities.
The recently released Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 are a matter of celebration for these workers. The rules acknowledge the contribution of waste pickers in keeping our cities clean. Alliance of Indian Wastepickers (AIW), an organisation that works with waste pickers and other collectives and organizations in the country, have made prescriptions for the inclusion of waste pickers and informal waste workers (identified as informal waste collectors) in waste management services. There are more than 2,500,000 waste pickers all over India and they send around 1,00,000 tons of waste for recycling. Alliance of Indian Wastepickers has put forward 10 demands for inclusion to the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change.
AIW organised a two-day workshop to understand the recently notified waste management rules, a set of guidelines released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change of the government of India and included a session titled ‘Waste Narratives’ with personal stories of waste pickers.
Gautham from Amravati in Vijaywada district picks up waste from streets. He has been doing that since he was seven. “I am optimistic for the inclusion in the rules and am proud that there are so many people who want to support waste pickers to give them the recognition they deserve,” he said. While a young Gautham is still hopeful that the government will bring about a change in their lives, some of the workers have been deeply disappointed by way the system has treated them all this time. Geeta bai from Indore broke down during the event while sharing the sufferings they have to pass through to pick up waste. She also shared her sheer disappointment with how the system operates and keeps them marginalised.
Hasnoor bi who works at the dump yard in Deonar, a suburb in Mumbai which recently caught fire, shared her disappointment over the travesty of justice as the Mumbai police instead of arresting the culprits behind the fire placed waste pickers behind bars. “One should understand that the dump yard is an avenue of livelihood and it is tough to work at the dump yard in its existing situation. Why will waste pickers put it on fireIJ” she pointed out.
Nalini Shekar, founder of Hasiru Dala, an organisation from Bangalore that works closely with waste collectors, said that, “Our cities are moderately clean, but if waste pickers didn’t exist they would have been overflowing with waste. The law has recognised it. Now its time that both society and citizens do that, too.”
Waste pickers and collectors constitute the bottom layer of waste recycling even in major metropolises of the country. Pickers collect waste just by picking them up from public places such as garbage dumps and streets, whereas collectors purchase waste from waste producers such as households and shops for sale to higher-level waste traders. Most pickers have incomes below the poverty line set by the Planning Commission of India, whereas the majority of collectors earn marginally higher than the poverty-line income.
The efforts of waste pickers to gain recognition and legitimisation as workers, as well as their expansion and formalisation, should be supported, without undermining their existing and long-term contributions.