Wastepickers contracted to work for the municipal corporation of Ahmedabad were shocked to arrive to work in Vejalpur on August 15 and find someone else doing their jobs. Overnight, and on a national holiday, the municipality created a new waste collection contract with a private company called Jigar Transport Company based in Surat city of South Gujarat.

After gathering supportive letter from residents, conducting sit-ins at the offices of Ahmedabad officials, and launching court battles, the wastepickers of Velajpur were given their jobs back but only until September 30^th, at which point their contract runs out. Following this date, it appears that the municipality will work with the Jigar Transport Company.

The contract with Ahmedabad represented a hard-won battle for this particular wastepicker collective, consisting of 366 workers and supported by the Self-Employed Womens Association (SEWA). In a letter drafted to garner support for their plight the wastepickers of Ahmedabad had this to say:

“Our cooperative organises waste paper pickers for alternative employment.  We collect waste door-to-door from people’s homes, thereby making a living with dignity. We are now able to feed our children and send them to school. Our lives have changed. We have moved towards self-reliance.”

 The loss of this contract is a huge blow to these very vulnerable members of Indian society and represents a much larger trend towards corporate privatization in India. Unfortunately, this leaves the poor with a no opportunity for self-reliance, even while waste-pickers continue to provide recycling services in the area. Private corporations take all waste to the landfill without segregating it while wastepickers simply move their segregation and recycling operations into less and less safe environments. This undignified livelihood is even further exacerbated when the waste mafia shows up and demands bribes from waste-pickers to “allow” recycling to happen in certain areas.

For now, the wastepickers of Velajpur continue to fight for their lives.

“We the waste-pickers of the Karyasiddh cooperative request your support and solidarity in our struggle for work with dignity.” 

Bhavanaben, Muktaben, Shardaben,  Madhuben

&

other members of the Executive Committee

of

Shri Karyasiddh Kagad Kam

Mahila SEWA Sahkari Mandali Ltd.