The plight of waste pickers in urban bodies has been aptly depicted in a video documentary “Pioneers of Recycling,’’ produced by Dalit Bahujan Resources Centre (DCRC), Guntur. The DCTC has been actively involved in the All India Waste Pickers Network and working with many NGOs across the country.
The moving 15-minute documentary was made by Alladi Deva Kumar and Chukka Samuel Anil Kumar and presents the deplorable working conditions of waste pickers in the municipal corporations of Guntur and Vijayawada.
The film opens with the images of a dumping yard and children with dishevelled hair carrying bags of waste. Over the last six months, the DCRC had interviewed hundreds of waste pickers in Guntur, Vijayawada and Hyderabad. The team collected individual data, family income and the status of children, etc.
‘Denied basic rights’
“We made this film to highlight the future of waste pickers, who could be thrown out of their jobs as the Guntur and Vijayawada corporations are gearing up to implement solid waste management technologies. We urge the State government to integrate the waste pickers in the solid waste management programmes,’’ said Mr. Anil Kumar. The waste pickers usually earn just Rs.150 per day, which is hardly sufficient to meet the family needs. “Waste pickers have been denied basic rights as a citizen. They do not have ID cards, ration cards or Aadhar cards. They are mostly migrants who do not have houses and we tried to capture their deplorable living conditions in slums and dumping yards,’’ said Mr. Alladi Deva Kumar.
The DCRC had tried to represent their case with the local urban bodies, but their efforts have not succeeded so far.
“The Guntur Municipal Corporation has not responded positively to our repeated pleas for accommodating the waste pickers in the solid waste management programme. We are trying to help them to integrate with the sanitary wing of the GMC,’’ said Deva Kumar.
