Bal Vikas Dhara

New Delhi, Delhi 110037, India

Primary information

Year formed

1993

Language

English, Hindi

Number of members

116,250

Type of members

Waste picker support organization

Workplace of members

Door to door

Organization Structure

Governing Body, General Body, Advisory Board, ASH Committee, Purchase Committee, manager/coordinator, administration and other staff.

Objectives

Awareness raising, fight against discrimination and poverty, rights dignity and welfare of workers, strengthen unity and cohesion among waste pickers, against privatization, advocacy at national level, capacity building, organizing at local and national level

Education and training

Business & project management, Rights & duties, Waste management

Partnering organizations

Bal Panchayat, Navsakti - Youth Federation, Domestic Women Worker Federation, Mahila Panchayat - Birangana, South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude, Delhi Kabari Mazdoor Sangh, Global March Against Child Labour, Sanjaha Manch, Bharatiya Kabaadi Mazdoor Adhikar Manch, Alliance for Peoples’ Rights, Bal Adhikar Abhiyan, NFRE RTE Forum 12, Women Law Network, Right to Food Campaign, Alliance of Indian Waste Pickers

Funding

Donor funded, Local population pay fee, Self funded

Women composition

48,0% Male: Female ratio is 90%:10% among Waste Pickers. In our Waste Picker families, 90% women are domestic women workers.

Social networking sites

Benefits

Number of credit / saving members?

540

Services

How is the relationship with the municipality?

Excellent and/or friendly

Complementary Information

Information source

Asia 2013

Comments / Narrative

Bal Vikas Dhara’s major focus had initially been on children exploited for their labour in the areas of Vasant Vihar and Vasant Kunj in Delhi. BVD Founder Mr Baral is a former unorganized Labour Union leader as well as a social activist who has worked intensively in the National Educational Campaign and National Campaign against Child Labour in his association with the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude and Bonded Labour Liberation Front. BVD began its efforts in the targeted areas of Delhi to get non-school going and child labourers (especially those waste picking) into slum NFE centres. Over a period of time a network of community leaders and volunteers have begun contributing significantly in taking up a number of social and economic initiatives for the upliftment of working children and their parents. The target group grew from children to families, from child labourers to specific occupational groups, i.e. waste pickers, domestic workers, youth and women. Women’s issues have gradually emerged as a focus in all BVD interventions. BVD works towards the empowerment of marginalized communities with a special focus on women and children by creating awareness on causes where a groups rights have been denied and asserting those rights as a collective group, with a commitment to build a responsible civil society and socially just governance for sustained impact. From 20th August, 2000 BVD began working especially on waste pickers rights. The work with waste picker children began with education (NFE classes for Waste Picker children) and capacity building of waste pickers on the issue of Waste Picker identity, dignity & livelihood.