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| Rukmini and Anita pose with their brand new licences, a new milestone in their profession |
In an inspiring tale of initiative and
courage, two young ragpicker girls from the city have bagged licenses
to drive around the mobile recycling unit of the Kagad Kach Patra
Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP)’s SWaCH initiative to improve conditions of
waste collectors.
Now Rukmini and Anita, daughters of Usha Dasu Phadke who is a member of
KKPKP-SWaCH, drive their family around in vehicles from their home in
the Dandekar Bridge slums. After their father abandoned them 15 years
ago, the family has seen some pretty tough times. Both Rukmini and Anita
had to drop out of school in Class 10, since they could not even afford
to buy examination forms.
Nineteen-year-old Rukmini said, “To help our family and ease my mother’s
burden, we decided to work with KKPKP-SWaCH, who gave us with driving
training. We are very thankful to them for giving us a new lease on
life.”
The girls symbolise the next generation of waste collectors, who break
away from the stereotype that children of ragpickers will end up picking
waste. They are motivated enough to venture into new and different
arenas.
The SWaCH programme is promoted by KKPKP to organise more than 6,000
ragpickers or waste collectors, with an aim to create a sustainable
de-centralised, waste management model in the country. For KKPKP-SWaCH
purchasing a vehicle is another step towards improving conditions for
ragpickers.
Said Manish Desai, part of the Citizens Outreach initiative of SWaCH,
“So far, 51 women have been trained as drivers in the Pune Municipal
Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).
These vehicles will initially be used in the Hadapsar and Sahakar Nagar
areas. The inauguration of the vehicles will take place on Tuesday at
the Bhavani Peth ward office, at the hands of Baba Adahav, president of
the Hamal Panchyat and Mahesh Pathak, PMC Commissioner.” |
