Complementary Information
- Information source
- Updated by the Secretariat of the Alliance of Indian Wastepickers
Comments / Narrative
The Alliance of Indian Wastepickers is more than a decade old national coalition of organizations working with waste-pickers and other informal waste collectors. The alliance was created to have coordinated efforts to ensure the inclusion of waste pickers in various national-level programmes. Organizations/members of the alliance represent more than 40000 waste-pickers and other informal waste-pickers in India. Secretariat of the alliance has been rotating amongst member organizations starting from Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), Pune. After that, Bangalore based organization of wastepickers- Hasiru Dala hosted the secretariat for 3 years. Currently, the Secretariat of the coalition is hosted by Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Mumbai. From April 2019, Dalit Bahujan Resource Centre (DBRC) will be hosting the secretariat of the Alliance.
Our Work
- Policy analysis and recommending policy measures to all levels of governments- Union, state and urban and rural local governments, different departments within each level of three-tier governments, for the inclusion of waste pickers and informal waste collectors in solid waste management and social protection measures.
- Capacity building of member organizations and municipal authorities to facilitate the integration of waste-pickers by undertaking training sessions on social entitlements, financial literacy, organic and dry waste management.
- Research focusing on waste management techniques, informal waste chains and status of waste-pickers and informal waste collectors.
- Awareness generation about the role played by waste-pickers and informal waste collectors in keeping the cities clean, mitigating climate change and contributing to manufacturing. In other words, waste-pickers and informal waste collectors are an important link between Swachh Bharat, India’s commitments for mitigating climate change and Make in India.
- Helping member organizations to strengthen themselves by providing a networking platform to learn from each other.