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R. S. Sannabhadti
scrap pickers, they use their contacts with a pithawallah (itinerant scrap buyer) to
introduce other street-side scrap pickers who are known to them and who do not
pose a competition to them. Thus, caste and kinship relationships seem to be used as
an organising principle by the groups themselves sub-consciously. There are other
fractures and fissures within the waste picking livelihood groups functioning at the
open dumpsite. Since the waste from the city keeps getting dumped throughout the
day there is no shortage of waste but the choicest recyclable is gleaned as soon as it
is dumped by a municipal truck/vehicle. The physical strength of individual worker
and household size become crucial determining factors of effectiveness in the open
landfill site for waste picker households. The Gujarati waste pickers resent the fact
that the non-Gujarati migrant households are able to function for 10–18 h throughout
the day at this site in shifts by alternating their family members. Since these migrants
have no other source of livelihoods, not even casual labour in the city they are forced
to sustain themselves through such practices. If these realities are not considered at
the time of formation of scrap picking SHGs or cooperatives there is likelihood that
the internal conflicts would create high transaction costs for such livelihood groups.
Integration of these competing groups into municipal solid waste management processes as desired by SWM rules demands customised capacity building keeping the
competing needs of these interest groups in mind. So, community organisation activities with these groups need to traverse these inherent competing interests by devising
strategic alliances among these groups.
4.5 Privatisation and the Diminishing Scope for Scrap
Picking
The privatisation of municipal solid waste collection services is further increasing
this competition. The private players get paid by tipping rates and so they prohibit
the gleaning of scrap from the un-segregated waste collected by them. Due to this
increasing privatisation in the city, the opportunities for individuals to undertake
scrap picking in ‘municipal solid waste collection and disposal’ chain is diminishing. Apart from municipal services, such takeover of ‘cleaning and waste picking
services’ by corporate entities is also occurring in large gated complexes particularly in commercial complexes. Thus, the scope for door-to-door cleaners and waste
pickers to undertake scrap picking as an entrepreneurial activity is diminishing. With
the municipal services gradually thinking of withdrawing from ‘street sweeping and
cleaning’ even this ‘scrap picking’ avenue is likely to be affected. If the SBM is
serious about integration of scrap pickers in municipal SWM then it needs to make
sure that the first preference in such projects should be given to local scrap picking
groups or their collectives.
R. S. Sannabhadti
scrap pickers, they use their contacts with a pithawallah (itinerant scrap buyer) to
introduce other street-side scrap pickers who are known to them and who do not
pose a competition to them. Thus, caste and kinship relationships seem to be used as
an organising principle by the groups themselves sub-consciously. There are other
fractures and fissures within the waste picking livelihood groups functioning at the
open dumpsite. Since the waste from the city keeps getting dumped throughout the
day there is no shortage of waste but the choicest recyclable is gleaned as soon as it
is dumped by a municipal truck/vehicle. The physical strength of individual worker
and household size become crucial determining factors of effectiveness in the open
landfill site for waste picker households. The Gujarati waste pickers resent the fact
that the non-Gujarati migrant households are able to function for 10–18 h throughout
the day at this site in shifts by alternating their family members. Since these migrants
have no other source of livelihoods, not even casual labour in the city they are forced
to sustain themselves through such practices. If these realities are not considered at
the time of formation of scrap picking SHGs or cooperatives there is likelihood that
the internal conflicts would create high transaction costs for such livelihood groups.
Integration of these competing groups into municipal solid waste management processes as desired by SWM rules demands customised capacity building keeping the
competing needs of these interest groups in mind. So, community organisation activities with these groups need to traverse these inherent competing interests by devising
strategic alliances among these groups.
4.5 Privatisation and the Diminishing Scope for Scrap
Picking
The privatisation of municipal solid waste collection services is further increasing
this competition. The private players get paid by tipping rates and so they prohibit
the gleaning of scrap from the un-segregated waste collected by them. Due to this
increasing privatisation in the city, the opportunities for individuals to undertake
scrap picking in ‘municipal solid waste collection and disposal’ chain is diminishing. Apart from municipal services, such takeover of ‘cleaning and waste picking
services’ by corporate entities is also occurring in large gated complexes particularly in commercial complexes. Thus, the scope for door-to-door cleaners and waste
pickers to undertake scrap picking as an entrepreneurial activity is diminishing. With
the municipal services gradually thinking of withdrawing from ‘street sweeping and
cleaning’ even this ‘scrap picking’ avenue is likely to be affected. If the SBM is
serious about integration of scrap pickers in municipal SWM then it needs to make
sure that the first preference in such projects should be given to local scrap picking
groups or their collectives.