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News: India is home to more than 4 million waste pickers, who are the backbone of traditional waste management in most Indian cities.
Yet, they are one of the most marginalised groups of Indian society and are at the very bottom of the socio-economic chain. The fact that they have feeble access to the government social safety net makes them highly vulnerable to emergencies and disasters.
What are the challenges that waste pickers face?
Their multiple vulnerabilities include low and uncertain incomes, limited access to government schemes, high health risks, and severe social exclusion. These get compounded in the presence of emergencies like the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Apart from this, nearly 70% come from socially backward groups and over 60% have no formal education.
Majority of them have no health insurance, indicating very high degrees of health-shock vulnerabilities.
Why are they mostly left out of government’s social safety net?
They usually lack any income, caste, or occupation certificate. This thwarts any attempts at formalising their work and limits their access to government social security schemes.
What is the way forward?
Short term measures
– Urban local bodies should register these workers and provide them with ID cards that recognise them as municipal workers with a clear role. They should be paid a minimum wage and should be given an authorised access to waste.
– If Waste pickers’ cooperatives are given more strength , they can collectively bargain for higher prices for what they collect.
Long term measures: There is a need for a comprehensive welfare framework to design social protection schemes explicitly for Waste pickers.
– There is a need to proactively reach out to the workers for enrolment in government schemes and for a greater awareness among them about their entitlements.
– There is a need to create better, safer, decent jobs in the economy that informal workers like can eventually move to, supported by efforts to enhance their skills.
– Finally, alternatives like technology-led circular economy models that eliminate the need for any person to do this hazardous work manually need to be explored.
Source: This post is based on the article “Waste Pickers need policy report” published in Indian express on 5th March 2022.
