BMC issues ID cards to ragpickers involved in waste segregation

A ragpicker segregates waste at a municipal bin. Pic/Ashish Raje

After a week, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started distributing identification cards to ragpickers, who were not allowed to do their work under the essential services category. The work of collection and segregation of dry waste had come to a halt during the quarantine period.

There are three organisations - Stree Mukti Sanghtna, Aasra and Aakar - under which 6,650 ragpickers report to collect and segregate waste across the city. Their work ensures the maximum segregation of recyclable items from the garbage. After the lockdown, the BMC allowed only essential services to be on. While solid waste management comes under the essential category, the ragpickers couldn't join in, as they didn't have any IDs from the municipal corporation. Hence, the work of dry waste segregation was put on hold. "They will need an ID. At various locations, our workers manage wet waste by converting it to manure," said Jyoti Mhapsekar, founder of Stree Mukti Sanghtna.

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