:
Safai Mitras
Why Are Safai Mitras Important
Why Are Safai Mitras Important
What We Did
Best Practices From Across India
What We Learnt
Why Are Safai Mitras Important?
Safai Mitras or waste pickers are the backbone of the recycling system in India. They collect, sort and sell materials for recycling or reuse. It is estimated that more than 4 million people earn a livelihood from waste.
Through collecting materials such as plastic, glass, paper and electronic waste from households and streets – Safai Mitras' contribution to material recovery is immense. Their efforts also contribute to better public health and the environment by reducing the amount of waste entering the landfill and promoting resource recovery.
These invisible superheroes, despite their undeniable role, are at the forefront of various challenges including marginalization and social exclusion. Due to the itinerant nature of their work, they earn low and unsteady incomes, face increased vulnerability to climate and natural disasters and are exposed to health risks.
Approximately 70% of them earn a monthly household income of less than INR 10,000, highlighting their economic vulnerability. Many belong to socially disadvantaged groups, which further limits their access to essential services and opportunities. Over 60% lack formal education, perpetuating a cycle of disadvantage and hindering their ability to secure better livelihoods. Additionally, the absence of essential documentation restricts their formalization efforts, leaving them without the benefits that come with recognized employment. Despite these obstacles, sanitation workers are the true entrepreneurs on the ground, demonstrating resilience and resourcefulness as they continue contributing significantly to public health and environmental sustainability. For circularity to truly materialize, we need to include and mainstream Safai Mitras in the formal waste management ecosystem.
What We Did – Project Utthan
First, we recognized and we listened.
As we embarked on developing comprehensive waste models, we realized that recognizing the contributions of Safai Mitras was imperative. Through our work with community-based organizations, we began to truly listen to the needs of Safai Mitras, the gaps in the ecosystem. For example, through on-going consultations with one of our partners, Stree Mukti Sangatana, we realized that there was an immediate need to focus on the occupational health and safety of Safai Mitras.
Occupational safety.
In 2020, we began with comprehensive capacity building programs to equip them with the knowledge to handle hazardous materials safely, enhance their risk awareness, and prepare them for emergencies (like the pandemic), while improving their working conditions. This was crucial especially since Safai Mitras were working tirelessly, often in high-risk conditions (while handling COVID related medical waste), to keep cities clean and societies and families healthy.
Social and financial security.
Following a Baseline Survey by UNDP 2020, we began to unearth deeper and more complex challenges in the ecosystem, with Safai Mitras at the intersectionality of marginalization from the lens of caste, gender, economic backwardness, occupation and opportunities. These circumstances demanded for efforts to empower Safai Mitras with a better quality of life.
As a first-of-its-kind, social and financial inclusion program.
Project Utthan aims to enhance the participation of Safai Mitras and their families in diverse social protection schemes covering food, health safety, education, and financial inclusion. These include the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, eSHRAM card, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna, Deendayal Antodaya Yojna and Jan Dhan account, among others. The program also focused on bridging the critical gap of access by setting up process for issuance of National ID cards, including Aadhaar, ration cards, and voter card, as required, to ensure eligibility for accessing and utilizing the benefits of social security programs. Through increased outreach of Government programs and social protection schemes, the partnership has resulted in reduced vulnerability and increased community resilience. It has, further, created opportunities for safe, sustainable, and dignified livelihoods.
Mobilising Safai Mitras to drive behavior change.
Over time, we have also recognized that Safai Mitras are key drivers in promoting behavior change and ensuring that households consistently segregate waste. They are pivotal in sustaining household-level efforts as waste moves through the value chain, by ensuring proper collection, handling and management. Through interactive training sessions, we have equipped them with technical skills for waste management, and provided essential protective gear like gloves and masks.
Safai Mitras have been provided access
2.5x
government social protection schemes.
Best Practices From The Ecosystem
Case Study
Hasiru Dala Innovations
Context
The informal sector of waste pickers play an essential role in the waste and recycling value chain. However, they face significant barriers like low incentives, unreliable buyers, and unstable market access. These make it difficult for them to collect recyclable waste at fair prices, leading to financial instability and contributing to increased waste ending up in landfills. Having been so deeply inserted in India’s waste ecosystem and despite their crucial role, waste pickers struggle to find identity, basic human dignity, dignity of labour, and economic opportunities to rise in the value chain. The informal nature of their work also exposes them to health risks and harassment, all while working in precarious conditions.
Innovation
Bengaluru based Hasiru Dala Innovations (HDI) has taken a transformative approach to integrate waste pickers into the waste value chain by professionalizing them. Recognizing their value, experience and expertise, HDI has developed strategies that have created predictable livelihoods and entrepreneurship opportunities for them. HDI’s key innovation is its inclusive business model, which transitions waste pickers into micro entrepreneurs. In a partnership model, HDI offers support and guidance to waste pickers to establish proper infrastructure for waste collection, transportation, and sorting. In turn, the micro entrepreneurs provide primary waste collection services for HDI’s bulk waste generator (BWG) clients and streamline the waste to HDI’s transfer stations, which is where wet waste from small vehicles is transferred to larger trucks – which goes to HDI’s Waste-to-Biogas plant; and dry waste, managed by the micro entrepreneurs (referred to as van units or franchisees of HDI) – is sorted into up to 25 categories, including paper, plastic, and glass, and eventually sold to appropriate recyclers.
Through this approach, HDI provides these entrepreneurs access to clean waste directly from the source – a significant shift from their previous uncertainty of finding enough tradeable waste to sustain their livelihoods. This unlocks predictable incomes, a fully operational and well-supported waste management infrastructure, and the autonomy to trade the dry waste collected. This inclusive entrepreneur business model has opened doors for more green-collar jobs. The micro entrepreneurs further provide jobs to more waste pickers in handling of waste. HDI’s first ever micro entrepreneur, Lotfar, now operates a Material Recovery Facility, lives in a pucca house, files his GST returns, and is aspiring to buy land to build his own house – an inspiring change from earlier where the aspiration was limited to earning a daily livelihood.
To further support waste pickers, HDI’s sister not-for-profit organization Hasiru Dala supports them to gain access to government welfare schemes, including Jan Dhan Yojana and the National Health Insurance Scheme; and fosters dedicated financial literacy officers who work on the field with waste pickers, teaching them how to use UPI for payments, how to open a bank account, and so on.
Key Takeaways
Waste pickers as micro entrepreneurs
Predictable livelihoods through formal partnerships
Inclusive business model for empowerment
Waste pickers as micro entrepreneurs
Predictable livelihoods through formal partnerships
Inclusive business model for empowerment
1 of 2
Lessons Learnt
Safai Mitras should be at the front and centre of circularity.
It is important to acknowledge that Safai Mitras are not just workers in the informal waste economy; they are vital agents of change within their communities as well. All circularity initiatives must place Safai Mitras at the forefront, ensuring their voices and contributions shape collective efforts
1 of 4
Previous Chapter
Next Chapter