Govt of India 'not taking cognizance' of life, dignity of waste collectors: DASAM meet

Counterview Desk
The civil rights group, Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM), has complained that the Government of India is not taking cognizance of lives and dignities of the waste collectors on the ground, it is only on paper. "About four million waste collectors in India are suffering to government’s disability to implement its own rules and laws", it said.
Stating that most of them belong to Dalit, Adivasi and minority community, it noted, "They moved into big cities in search of livelihood and get entangled in the web of extortion and exploitation by civic bodies. This clearly shows that law in the capital is being mocked by the government’s implementing agencies."

An account of waste picker community's meeting...

Text:

A meeting of more than 80 families of waste pickers was organized by Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch (DASAM) and other organisations* at the Basti Vikas Kendra, New Seemapuri, Delhi.
The Central government launched Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rule 2016 to engage waste pickers in waste management, provide Material Recovery Facilities (MRF) to segregate recyclable wastes and to make the city clean and self-sustainable. These issues have also been the priorities of Municipal Corporation under respective municipal rules.
But community is very much desperate from the ways and means of SBM, SWM and Municipal rules are implemented at ground. Non-availability of MRF is a clear cut indicator of defeat of SWM Rule 2016. It is not only defeat of SWM Rules, it also defeats the purpose of government, extort money from waste pickers and environmental laws as follows:

Government is paying to contractors to pick up wastes from colonies and dump it to landfills.
Waste pickers have to buy wastes from government’s appointees like sanitary inspectors, contractors, divers of the waste carrying tippers, etc. Earlier waste pickers were collecting wastes from colonies at free and government had nothing to pay.
Environmental pollution is escalating due to government sponsored nexus involvement to collect and dump wastes in landfill.

The government is not taking cognizance of lives and dignities of the waste collectors on the ground, it is only on paper. About four million waste collectors in India are suffering to government’s disability to implement its own rules and laws. About 5 lakh waste collectors engaged in waste management only in the Delhi NCR area and most of them are from different states of the country. Most of them belong to Dalit, Adivasi and minority community. They moved into big cities in search of livelihood and get entangled in the web of extortion and exploitation by civic bodies. This clearly shows that law in the capital is being mocked by the government’s implementing agencies.

Almost 80 per cent of waste generated can be recycled with the help of informal waste collectors

In the eyes of law, waste is a resource. Almost 80 per cent of waste generated (50% wet waste + 30%) can be recycled with the help of informal waste collectors and be used as a resource. But the ground reality is entirely different – waste collectors/ segregators are trapped and used as easy source of extorting money by the implementing agencies. If they don’t pay bribes to the implementing agencies, they face atrocities and fake FIR cases.

Concluding the meeting DASAM leader Jahan Aara said that youth want engagement in livelihood. Parent teach children to earn livelihood to live. But the situation is not in favour of earning livelihood. Government should allow all youth to work and contribute in development otherwise youth will get engaged in other activities irrespective of likes and dislikes of their parents and the government.
Activist Hajara pointed out that in municipality election all waste pickers supported the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with the expectation to protect livelihood in waste picking and segregation. If AAP breaches and acts like the previous government then all waste pickers will teach a lesion in forthcoming election. She also expressed that in addition to buying wastes from the new government’s appointees in solid waste management they also pay bribes of Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 to the supervisor of municipality dustbins. Many other women raised similar complaints against the government. In days to come, waste pickers will resist at large scale against oppression and livelihood threats.

The waste pickers should be made them free from the clutches of nexus of government-appointees in solid waste management. The Solid Waste Management Rule 2016 should be implemented in so that the participation of waste pickers in it is ensured. The law and justice is in the interest of the government, waste pickers and environment.
#wasteworkersvoice #wasteworkersvoice #wasteworkersvoice #wasteworkersvoice
---
*Janpahal, Waste pickers Welfare Foundation (WWF), Magadh Foundation, Sewerage Sambadh Karmachari Manch (SSKM), Research Institute for Dalit Adiwasi and Minorties (RIDAM), AIKMM, Ambedkarwadi Lekhak Sangh (ALS), Delhi Solidarity Group (DSG), Peoples Media Advocacy & Resource Centre- PMARC

Comments

The silencing of conscience: Ideological attacks on India’s judiciary and free thought

By Sunil Kumar* “Volunteers will pick up sticks to remove every obstacle that comes in the way of Sanatan and saints’ work.” — RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (November 6, 2024, Chitrakoot) Eleven months later, on October 6, 2025, a man who threw a shoe inside the Supreme Court shouted, “India will not tolerate insults to Sanatan.” This incident was not an isolated act but a continuation of a pattern seen over the past decade—attacks on intellectuals, writers, activists, and journalists, sometimes in the name of institutions, sometimes by individual actors or organizations.

N-power plant at Mithi Virdi: CRZ nod is arbitrary, without jurisdiction

By Krishnakant* A case-appeal has been filed against the order of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and others granting CRZ clearance for establishment of intake and outfall facility for proposed 6000 MWe Nuclear Power Plant at Mithi Virdi, District Bhavnagar, Gujarat by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) vide order in F 11-23 /2014-IA- III dated March 3, 2015. The case-appeal in the National Green Tribunal at Western Bench at Pune is filed by Shaktisinh Gohil, Sarpanch of Jasapara; Hajabhai Dihora of Mithi Virdi; Jagrutiben Gohil of Jasapara; Krishnakant and Rohit Prajapati activist of the Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a notice to the MoEF&CC, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and case is kept for hearing on August 20, 2015. Appeal No. 23 of 2015 (WZ) is filed, a...

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Citizens’ group to recall Justice Chagla’s alarm as India faces ‘undeclared' Emergency

By A Representative In a move likely to raise eyebrows among the powers-that-be, a voluntary organisation founded during the “dark days” of the Indira Gandhi -imposed Emergency has announced that it will hold a public conference in Ahmedabad to highlight what its office-bearers call today’s “undeclared Emergency.”

New RTI draft rules inspired by citizen-unfriendly, overtly bureaucratic approach

By Venkatesh Nayak* The Department of Personnel and Training , Government of India has invited comments on a new set of Draft Rules (available in English only) to implement The Right to Information Act, 2005 . The RTI Rules were last amended in 2012 after a long period of consultation with various stakeholders. The Government’s move to put the draft RTI Rules out for people’s comments and suggestions for change is a welcome continuation of the tradition of public consultation. Positive aspects of the Draft RTI Rules While 60-65% of the Draft RTI Rules repeat the content of the 2012 RTI Rules, some new aspects deserve appreciation as they clarify the manner of implementation of key provisions of the RTI Act. These are: Provisions for dealing with non-compliance of the orders and directives of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by public authorities- this was missing in the 2012 RTI Rules. Non-compliance is increasingly becoming a major problem- two of my non-compliance cases are...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

'Violation of Apex Court order': Delhi authorities blamed for dog-bite incidents at JLN Stadium

By A Representative People for Animals (PFA), led by Ms. Ambika Shukla, has held the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) responsible for the recent dog-bite incidents at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, accusing it of violating Supreme Court directions regarding community dogs. The organisation’s on-ground fact-finding mission met stadium authorities and the two affected coaches to verify details surrounding the incidents, both of which occurred on October 3.

Counterview

Search This Blog