STREE MUKTI SANGHATANA A LEADING WOMEN’S ORGANISATION

ESTD. IN 1975 IN MUMBAI

FOR THE UPLIFTMENT OF

SOCIETY IN GENERAL AND

WOMEN IN PARTICULAR

ACCREDITATION WITH

ECOSOC ( UN)

Parisar Vikas

Human Face of Solid Waste Management

Who is waste picker?

• Women or children engaged in ‘illegal’

work

• Migrants from traditionally backward caste in some regions (Mahar, neo-Buddhists, Matang,Chambhar from Marathwada ,Tamilnadu and Karnataka)

• known only by her sack and rod in hand to pick up her dry waste and to protect herself from animals like rats, dogs and ……

• Looked down as thief or nuisance by Municipal workers and Citizens

• Migrant women who tend towards this low-paying, low investment work

• No fixed hours, N0 investment

• Anonymous,

• lack of documents and lack of awareness of processes.

• Most difficult to organise

.

The SWM Pyramid

Recyclers

Wholesalers

Waste traders

Waste sorters 2

Waste sorters 1

Waste pickers

Why Our Intervention

High Impact on Environment

Socially/Economically Marginalized

Caste/Gender Humanitarian

Economics WASTE IS WEALTH

Environment

Waste Pickers

BPL

AGE GROUP DATA

0

20

40

60

80

AG

E I

N Y

EA

RS

7 TO 70

YEARS

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

WOMEN MEN CHILDREN

PE

RC

EN

TA

GE

85% 10% 5%

COMPOSITION

ANEMIC UNDERWEIGHT

ILLNESSES

HEALTH SURVEY DATA

95.3% ANEMIC 66.7 % UNDERWEIGHT

Musculoskeletal problems:

19.6%

Fever : 18%

Respiratory Infections : 9.7%

Leucorrhoea: 6.5%

Menstrual irregularities: 5.9%

• Training waste pickers in Microfinance and Leadership

• Alternate skills like composting, Bio-methanation, Fine sorting

• Negotiating with middle men

• Health awareness

• Literacy

Organization’s role

• 5000 women are organized in 5 cities in 500 self help groups.

• Self help groups are bound into federations

• Parisar Bhagini Vikas Sangha

• 10 cooperatives have been formed

( 30-50 women each) to secure contracts

Organizational structure

Parisar Bhagini Vikas Sangha (PBVS) Founded in 2004

Stree Mukti Sanghatnana – Organisation Tree

Stree Mukti Sanghatana (SMS) founded in 1975

Co-operative Societies

Activities: theatre, family counselling centers, day care centers, adolescent programs, campaigns for women’s rights

Started working for waste picker women in 1998.

A microfinance federation of Self Help Groups (for waste picker women) facilitated by SMS.

Gives financial assistance for education, health, housing, etc. Runs two canteens and five scrap shops through its members

PBVS has 10 cooperative societies. Undertake work in composting, biogas plant operation, gardening and housekeeping on a contract basis

Amla Work Areas: Chembur, Colaba, Trombay

Yashodhara

Work Areas: Chembur, BRC

Vasundhara

Work Areas: Mulund, Andheri, SEPZ

Ramai Work Areas: Andheri

Bhimai Work Areas: Thane

Muktai Work Areas: Chembur

Chaitanya

Work Areas: Thane

Savitribaiphulle

Work Areas: Chembur (compost basket manufacturing)

Priyadarshini Work Areas: Chembur

No. 10

Work Areas:

• Securing of work contracts

• Running of scrap shops

Providing

• Educational and Health facilities for them and their children

• Group Insurance

• Inclusion of waste pickers as special group in PDS (antyoday)

Organization’s role

Organization’s role

• Interface with Municipal Corporations

Access to resources

• Household survey of these women for BPL status and their inclusion (200 groups and 2000 women so far) under SJSRY Permission for issuing of identity cards

• Grant of Rs.10,000/- to each group as running capital to start their micro enterprises

Organization’s role • Formation of federation of groups known

as Parisar Bhagini Vikas Sangha (PBVS). Registration of the federation under Charitable Trusts Act and recognition of the PBVS as a Community Development Society.

• Provision of a tempo-vehicles for collection of dry waste and inclusion of Parisar Bhaginis in such schemes in five- municipal wards

• Recognition to SMS as the training Institute for waste pickers

Organization’s role • Vocational training of women under SJSRY

• Under infrastructure development of SJSRY, sanction to construct sheds in five wards for storage of dry waste which will operate on Cooperative basis under the aegis of PBVS

• Approval of design submitted by SMS for the composting of wet waste in pits measuring 5’x 3’x 2’

Mumbai (11 Comunities) Govandi – Gautamnagar, Rafiqnagar, Ramanmama Mankhurd – Sathenagar Chembur – Anandnagar, Pestomsagar, Amarmahal, Shramajeevinagar Sion – Prateeksha Kanjurmarg Powai

Navi Mumbai (9 Communities) Vashi , Nerul, Digha, Turbhe, Thane Belapur Road

Thane (2 Communities) Waghle Estate (Sathenagar) Vartaknagar (Bhimnagar)

Dombivili (2 Communities) Jyotinagar, Siddarthnagar

Rally in March 2010

AIW efforts : Policy

Urban development

A circular from the central to the state government issued on 20th March 2010 highlighting the contribution of wastepickers to cities and specifically advised how to support wastepickers .

AIW efforts : Policy

Environment

A committee has been formed with an AIW member on the committee . The role of the committee is to examine the role of wastepickers in municipal solid waste management and suggest necessary amendments to the Municipal Solid Waste (Management and Handing) Rule, 2000

Glass Metal Green Plastic landfill

Contribution of waste pickers to the city

Reduction in Waste Handling

Reduction in transport costs

Supply of raw material to Recycling factories

Saving space at Dumping Ground

Resource recovery in form of valuable compost

Conservation of environment

SEGREGATED WASTE

HOUSE WIFE

HOUSE ASSISTANT

SOCIETY SWEEPER

WATCHMAN

MUNICIPAL WORKER

WASTE PICKER

Our vision for solid waste management and climate change •Decentralised •Low Cost •Energy Efficient •Labour Friendly •High resource recovery •Environmentally sound •Sustainable

Business Models developed

by SMS 600 women are working at various 190 locations through their respective Cooperatives •Model 1 Women are involved in house to house collection of waste and fine segregation, processing of waste and recycling of dry waste •Model 2 Collection of Non medical waste from hospitals •Model 3 Collection of dry waste from Malls

• Lack of awareness amongst general public

• Apathy towards poor

• Not in my back yard (NIMBY) attitude

• Out of site out of mind

• Reluctance for segregation at source

• Promotion of wastepicking?

The Hurdles at the Societal

Level

Business Models developed

by SMS •Model 4 Maintenance of Biogas plants

Model 5 Collection of Post consumer tetra Pak Cartons and sending them to recycler Model 6 Collection of dry waste from Special Economic zone and disposal

Business Models developed

By SMS

Model 7 Collection of dry waste from Corporates and providing them recycled paper Model 8 Collection of dry waste with Municipal vehicle Model 9 Collection of waste from school and college campuses

• Independent Self Employed Workers to service providers.

• Steady Income

• Fixed Hours Health Care

• Compulsory Saving

INTEGRATION OF WASTE PICKERS INTO SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

RecyclingShed

House to house collection

Composting

100% recycled giveaways… scribble pads, note books, bags, napkins…

To realize ‘Zero Waste’ situation, Parisar Vikas has trained poor women who are called Trained Parisar Bhaginis. They are trained in waste handling, collection, transportation, dry waste segregation, compost pit management, biogas plant management and gardening

Anaerobic digester

Thermophilic Aerobic digester

Recycle

water tank

Methane utilization

Methane holder

Manure pits

Platform

Mixer Solar heater

Compressor

Compressor Gas blower

Gas meter

Weighing Scale

Fly repellent lamp

Gas balloon (O)

Water removal chambers

Manure utilization Methane recycler

2010

Aeration grid

Biogas Plants

Output- Biogas and Manure

• Suitable for larger quantities of organic waste • Plant Capacity can rang from 100- 5000Kg/day •Output – Biogas (useful for cooking) and Manure •Larger plants (>2000 Kgs perday) can also be used • to generate electricity Construction of the plant Utilization of gas and manure Operation and Maintenance of the units

O & M of 7 Plants BARC, Tata Power, TISS, TIFR, Shatabdi Hospital

100 Kg Biogas Plant at TISS

• Illiteracy

• Poverty-double duty

• Lack of work culture

• Distance between home and work

place

• Availability of waste on the streets

• Low income

• Gender bias and gender stereo types within the recycling industry

The Hurdles at the waste

picker level

• Vested interests in transport of waste

• Threat from privatization of waste management.

• Preference for Centralized Waste Management – high on technological solutions while ignoring human interest

• Promotion of highly hazardous and environmentally-unfriendly incineration technologies

The Macro Hurdle at the

Policy Level

Future Plans

• Greater visibility within the urban poor and informal workers sector

• Social security for the aged and vulnerable waste pickers and their family

• Accessing benefits under various existing schemes for Pension, education, health etc., schemes for the migrant, illiterate citizens of the city

• School admissions under RTE

• Benefits at private and

Government hospitals

• Social security schemes for the

aged, disabled, widows.

• Empower waste pickers’ federation and cooperatives to become economically independent and self-sustaining

• Restriction of the role of SMS as trainer, advisor and facilitator

• The constant Endeavour would be to mainstream waste pickers into the larger SWM cycle

Thanks Jyoti Mhapsekar Stree Mukti Sanghatana

Parisar Vikas

smsmum@gmail.com

www.streemuktisanghatana.org