Had I not been poor, I would not be collecting waste! If I could find work at home, I would not be struggling in Delhi!
– Manju Ji, a waste picker from Ghaziabad
New Delhi, 14th October 2023: Had I not been poor, I would not be collecting waste. If I could find work at home, I would not be in Delhi struggling to earn money, said Manju Ji, a waste picker from Bhuapur, Ghaziabad in the Press Conference organised by Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) on the Exclusion of waste pickers from the Waste Management System held on 14th October 2023 in Press Club of India, New Delhi.
Dr. Aparna Agarwal, Assistant Professor, O.P. Jindal Global University, who did her doctorate from Oxford university on the waste economy of Delhi, pointed that Waste pickers constitute approximately 1% of India’s workforce, and the 3- 4 lakh waste pickers in Delhi are informally working for the recycling of 15-20% of Delhi’s waste. In a scenario where most of the waste in Delhi is not recycled but sent for incineration, waste pickers are the only ones handling waste in an environment-friendly manner. However, they are not only excluded from the waste management system, but the Delhi government is increasing the informal workforce in the name of formalization through outsourcing the work to private companies, stated Dr. Agarwal.
Talking about privatization, Shashi B. Pandit, Joint Secretary DASAM pointed out that the control over waste is now given to people who have no experience of dealing with waste, and people who have years of experience are excluded from the management system.
Shravan Kumar, an informal waste picker in the NDMC area, talked about the dual profit companies earn by taking money through contracts and also from the informal waste pickers who collect waste from sites. The waste pickers who are helping the companies through their informal work have to pay them money and face additional harassment from the authorities. Ayodhya Prasad, an informal waste picker working in Ghaziabad added that they are also not allowed to throw waste on the dumping sites by the authorities after segregation.
Recognizing the exploitation by the private companies, an employee of one such company working for waste management in Ghazipur, Delhi admitted that the only goal of privatization is earning money and said that waste must not be used for generating money, but it should be used for public utility.
Ayesha Ji, a waste picker and community leader from Rithala, Rohini appealed that the money spent by the government on private contracts should be invested for the welfare of waste pickers by providing them with ID cards, medical facilities, social security, etc.
It must also be noted that the exploitation of waste pickers are not limited to their occupation but is also rooted in issues of caste, gender and religion where Bengali Muslim waste pickers of Bhalswa were kept away from the Bhalswa landfill during the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan celebrations on 2nd October.
The waste pickers present in the Press Conference proposed that if the informal waste pickers are given space in the waste management system, the waste management process would become more efficient and environment-friendly. Approximately, 50% waste is organic which can be converted to manure using natural methods and 30% waste is recyclable waste which can be brought to use without any treatment. Thus, around 80% of the waste can be managed by waste pickers without the need of incineration or waste to energy plants. This would relieve the economic burden from the government and lead to an ecologically sound waste management.
[Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) is an organization working for the issues of informal waste pickers in Delhi NCR.]