The New Indian Express 29.09.2010
Rag pickers to be cleaned out from the city?
HYDERABAD: 15,000 rag pickers in the city might loose their livelihood soon. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will outsource its solid waste management to a corporate organisation, Ramky.Once municipal authorities give their consent, Ramky will take over responsibility of collecting door-to-door garbage besides undertaking solid waste management. The Jawaharnagar dumping yard in the suburbs will then be managed by the company.
The Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA), an NGO which has been fighting for rights of the rag pickers said 15,000 families depending on garbage dumps will be barred from collecting door-to-door garbage.
“Ramky has not yet committed to absorbing these persons involved in door-to-door garbage collection and related works. They might end up being replaced by workers employed by Ramky. Besides, the company will also make money by taking out the scrap from the garbage and reselling it in the open market,” APSA director S Srinivas Reddy told Expresso.
Though there as many as 15,000 rag pickers spread across the city, GHMC officials have recognised only 5,000. Since the profession does not belong to the organised sector, the rag pickers do not receive any social benefits. A few months ago, three rag pickers who went into the Jawaharnagar dumping yard to pick up scrap got buried after a heap of garbage fell on them. The authorities could recover only one dead body so far.
It is learnt that recently some GHMC corporators were taken to cities across the country by Ramky officials to gain their confidence by demonstrating solid waste management done in an organised manner. The GHMC has signed an MOU with Ramky in 2008.
Meanwhile, members of APSA approached the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) complaining about the deplorable conditions of these 15,000 rag pickers as the government authorities were not taking interest in uplifting them. Now their livelihood is also at stake. “We demand programmes like Swaran Jayanti Shahri Yojna (SJSY) to be implemented for all rag pickers. The facilities which the GHMC is willing to provide to Ramky should be given to them so they do not lose their livelihood,” Srinivas Reddy said. SHRC acting chairperson K Peda Peri Reddy has directed the GHMC commissioner and labour commissioner to submit a report on this matter by November 11.
