Wage is not just a number
Bengaluru’s waste pickers are at the lowest income slab compared with other major cities in the country, a report from the Center for Science and Environment (CSE), a Delhi-based NGO, has highlighted. While in cities such as Chandigarh, Pune, and Pimpri-Chinchwad, the minimum ensured wage of waste workers ranges from Rs 16,000 to Rs 20,000, in Bengaluru, their income is Rs 10,000. The report underlines that Bengaluru’s waste pickers are not assured minimum wages or the right to collect user fees. Their income depends entirely on the volume of recyclables collected and sold, making many dry waste collection centres economically unviable. This, even though informal waste sorting in the city prevents 1,050 tonnes of waste daily from reaching landfills, saving over a million per year in disposal costs. Waste management experts caution that in such a scenario, the city is likely to suffer. “It is high time Bengaluru’s waste pickers are also entitled to a minimum assured wage. This will help the city with the management of solid waste,” said a city-based solid-waste management expert. The expert also pointed to how difficult it is for waste workers to manage. “The value of plastic waste has gone down, and waste pickers are finding it difficult to survive. The local administration first needs to renew the MoU with informal waste pickers and provide valid IDs to the workers. This is one way the administration can help them clear the waste,” the expert said. In Bengaluru, Hasiru Dala’s advocacy has enabled waste pickers to secure land from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and establish a material recovery facility along with dry waste collection centres. These centres allow them to sort, store, and sell recyclables. by the waste pickers through loans or financing. BBMP provided Rs 56,000 for vehicle operations for the first six months, later reduced to Rs 23,000 per month. Waste pickers collect dry waste two–three times a week, store and manually sort it at DWCCs with 10–12 workers they hire, and then sell recyclables in the market. Organic waste is separately collected by BBMP vehicles on alternate days and processed. The local administration first needs to renew the MoU with informal waste pickers and provide valid IDs to the workers. This is one way the administration can help them clear the waste — Waste management expert Waste workers in the city were linked to social security schemes such as pensions, health insurance, and medical benefits, and supported the overall well-being of their families through Hasiru Dala. Waste pickers were connected to public housing programmes, and their children were helped to get educational scholarships, access to a community library, and hostel facilities for those lacking a supportive home environment. Regular medical check-up camps were organised in both communities and DWCCs, with provisions for emergency healthcare, and their children were enrolled in nutritional support programmes.