Rag pickers should have rights over the waste collected by them. There should be no privatisation of waste management in Delhi. The profession of rag picking should be legally recognised and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) should provide them identity cards so that the police and MCD employees do not harass them. The MCD should provide space to the rag pickers for the segregation of dry waste and conversion of wet waste into compost, and banks should provide them the required loan to start the work of waste handling.

In a public hearing, organised at the Constitution Club, on 17 February 2010 on the subject `Waste Management—Public or Private Interest`, jury members unanimously demanded the above-mentioned rights and facilities for those employed in the work of making the city of Delhi neat and clean. Chairing the jury, Justice S.N. Bhargava (Retd.) said that the human rights of rag pickers are being violated and this is not acceptable in any form. He added that human rights are the birthright of every human being. Veteran labour leader, Baba Adhav, working for rag pickers in Pune, vehemently condemned the privatisation of waste management in Delhi and raised questions on the motive of those implementing it. He argued that when waste management has not been privatised in any other part of the country, what is the need to do so in Delhi. Swami Agnivesh, Chairman, Bandhua Mukti Morcha, demanded a round table conference on this issue, including all the stakeholders—the rag pickers, the MCD and the Delhi government.

Traditionally, the responsibility of waste management in Delhi has been with the MCD, New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and the Cantonment Board. Three years ago, the MCD outsourced a large share of waste management to Ramki Private Limited. Today, private companies such as Ramki and Metro Waste Company control over 80% of the waste produced in Delhi.

Around three lakh people earn their livelihood through rag picking in Delhi. These people pick waste from households, take the dry waste to their workplaces and dump the wet waste in the large dustbins (khatta) of the MCD. They then segregate the dry waste into various items such as paper, plastic bottles and glass bottles. Then, these people sell these to kura vyapari, who, in turn, sell these to companies as raw material. The wet waste is dumped by the MCD vehicles in outside areas.

“Earlier, I used to earn Rs 300–400 every day. But, since the private companies have come in, it becomes difficult to earn even Rs 100 per day. We have lost our livelihood and our children are dying of starvation.” says Avadhesh, who has been a rag picker in the Burari region of North Delhi for ten years. Earlier, the rag pickers used to pick wastes from households. Now, this work is being done by private company employees on three-wheelers. As a result, the rag pickers have lost their jobs. But, these companies do not segregate the dry waste. So, the rag pickers buy the dry waste from company employees, segregate it and sell it to the kura vyaparis. In this way, they somehow save themselves from starvation.

The private companies hire a few of these rag pickers; the rest are unemployed. This creates two factions among the rag pickers—one employed with the company and others without any job. The companies take full advantage of this `divide-and-rule` policy.

Member of All India Kabadi Mazdoor Mahasangh, Devendra, says, “The police and the MCD officials often harass and extort money from these rag pickers. The MCD officials extort up to Rs 5,000 per month from these poor people.” The police also does hafta vasuli from these people and when they refuse to pay their hard-earned money, they are often locked up and beaten. Their rickshaws are also often seized and released only when they pay the `dakshina` to the policeman.

The MCD sanitation employees also force the rag pickers to do their work such as sweeping the roads for them, without paying anything for this. Many employees sub-contract their work to these people and pay them a meagre amount of about Rs 1,000 per month.

Addressing the gathering at the Constitution Club, Ambarish Rai, a member of AIKMM drew the attention of the jury members to the deplorable condition of the rag pickers. He said these people live in filthy jhuggis, drink poisonous water and their children are devoid of education. The public hearing was also addressed by Swapan Mukherjee (General Secretary, AICCTU) and other eminent personalities. Earlier, the rag pickers presented their problems before the jury members.