New Delhi: New Report on Socio-Economic Conditions Waste Pickers by the UN Development Program (UNDP) India shows that 7 of the 10 respondents reported having monthly household income less than Rs 10,000.
About 6% of households report profits even less than Rs 2,250 a month.
About 65% of the 9,300 respondents reported that they did not have formal education and the vulnerability of this worker was exacerbated in high density households.
The average size of households is four individuals with a maximum up to 16.
Basic analysis is based on a survey conducted between October 2020 to February 2021.
It has the same representation of men and women involved in the collection of waste in 14 countries.
Data on children from those involved in collecting waste, are also collected during the survey, with a specific focus on their education.
Of the 10,609 children under 14 years surveyed, around seven in 10 eligible to go to school.
Of these, about 80% of girls reportedly went to school compared to 76% of boys.
From children who qualify, around 23% of them will not go to school during the survey and the most common reasons including financial constraints (32%) and the need for children to work and support the family (21%).
This report shows that more than half of the 9,300 respondents (male and female) work as a traveling waste picker, street sweeper and waste pickers in landfills, all work categories that are informal.
Except for AADHAR cards and voters – ownership reported by more than 90% and 60% of respondents, respectively – all forms of other identification such as birth, income, caste, and work certificates are found to be very short of society.
About 47% of respondents came from the scheduled caste, 18% to other back castes and 5% to the scheduled tribe.
However, only 0.5% of respondents reported the ownership of caste and income certificates.
Less than 6% are reported to have a birth certificate and only 4% of individuals who have a health card.
Access to financial inclusion is also a critical indicator.
While 67% reported having a bank account, only 21% reported access to Jan Dhan Yojana.
In terms of access to subsidized rations, 50% reported having and using a ration card.
India is estimated to have more than 40 lakh waste pickers in the waste management system.
UNDP India stated that the findings reflect the current progress status and sustainable efforts to increase the standard of waste pickers throughout the country.
However, the results also underlined the need to overcome the economic and social exclusence faced by this community.
They recommend the formulation of a framework for designing social protection schemes for this section, strengthening and formalizing economic contributions from this community, focusing on skilled skills and alternatives.