Social Welfare Minister Nakka Anand Babu on Tuesday urged ragpickers to send their children to Anganwadi schools that, he claimed, had been equipped with all facilities on a par with corporate pre-schools.
“We must make sure that the generation of ragpickers must end, by providing education to their children. The government will explore all possibilities to help the waste-pickers overcome financial crisis and join the mainstream,” said the Minister, addressing the first State convention of ragpickers, organised in city by Dalit Bahujan Resource Centre (DBRC), on Tuesday.
Responding to the demands made by members of the DBRC for welfare of the ragpickers’ community, the Minister assured them that the government would assess the situation and would explore the possibility of issuing occupational ID cards and extending other benefits.
They sought issue of ID cards for ragpickers, allocation of sanitation works on a contract basis, recognition to rag-picking as an unorganised sector and integration of members of this community in solid waste management schemes.
