The document discusses the work of Stree Mukti Sanghatana (SMS), a women's organization established in 1975 in Mumbai, and its subsidiary Parisar Vikas to empower waste picker women. SMS organizes waste picker women into self-help groups and a federation called Parisar Bhagini Vikas Sangha to facilitate microfinance activities. Through training in skills like composting and operating biogas plants, SMS helps 5000 waste picker women secure work contracts and operate cooperatives and scrap shops. The organization also aims to improve health, education and social security for waste picker communities.

1. STREE MUKTI SANGHATANA
A LEADING WOMEN’S ORGANISATION
ESTD. IN 1975 IN MUMBAI
FOR THE UPLIFTMENT OF
SOCIETY IN GENERALAND
WOMEN IN PARTICULAR
ACCREDITATION WITH
ECOSOC ( UN)

10. Parisar Vikas
Human Face of Solid Waste
Management

11. Who is waste picker?
• Women or children engaged in ‘illegal’
work
• Migrants from traditionally backward
caste in some regions (Mahar, neo-
Buddhists, Matang,Chambhar from
Marathwada ,Tamilnadu and Karnataka)

12. • known only by her sack and rod in hand
to pick up her dry waste and to protect
herself from animals like rats, dogs and
……
• Looked down as thief or nuisance by
Municipal workers and Citizens
• Migrant women who tend towards this
low-paying, low investment work

13. • No fixed hours, N0 investment
• Anonymous,
• lack of documents and lack of
awareness of processes.
• Most difficult to organise
.

15. The SWM Pyramid
Recyclers
Wholesalers
Waste traders
Waste sorters 2
Waste sorters 1
Waste pickers

16. Why Our Intervention
High Impact
on
Environment
Socially/Economically
Marginalized
Caste/Gender Humanitarian
Economics
WASTE IS WEALTH
Environment
Waste Pickers
BPL

17. AGE GROUP DATA
0
20
40
60
80
AGEINYEARS
7 TO 70
YEARS
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
WOMEN MEN CHILDREN
PERCENTAGE
85% 10% 5%
COMPOSITION

18. ANEMIC UNDERWEIGHT
ILLNESSES
HEALTH SURVEY DATA
95.3% ANEMIC 66.7 % UNDERWEIGHT
Musculoskeletal problems:
19.6%
Fever : 18%
Respiratory Infections : 9.7%
Leucorrhoea: 6.5%
Menstrual irregularities: 5.9%

19. • Training waste pickers in Microfinance and
Leadership
• Alternate skills like composting,
Bio-methanation, Fine sorting
• Negotiating with middle men
• Health awareness
• Literacy
Organization’s role

20. • 5000 women are organized in 5 cities
in 500 self help groups.
• Self help groups are bound into
federations
• Parisar Bhagini Vikas Sangha
• 10 cooperatives have been formed
( 30-50 women each) to secure contracts
Organizational structure

21. ​Parisar Bhagini Vikas Sangha (PBVS)
Founded in 2004
Stree Mukti Sanghatnana – Organisation Tree
Stree Mukti Sanghatana
(SMS) founded in 1975
Co-operative Societies
Activities: theatre, family
counselling centers, day care
centers, adolescent programs,
campaigns for women’s rights
Started working for waste
picker women in 1998.
A microfinance
federation of
Self Help Groups
(for waste
picker women)
facilitated by
SMS.
Gives financial
assistance for
education, health,
housing, etc.
Runs two canteens and
five scrap shops
through its members
PBVS has 10 cooperative
societies. Undertake work
in composting, biogas
plant operation, gardening
and housekeeping on a
contract basis
Amla
Work Areas: Chembur, Colaba, Trombay
Yashodhara
Work Areas: Chembur, BRC
Vasundhara
Work Areas: Mulund, Andheri, SEPZ
Ramai
Work Areas: Andheri
Bhimai
Work Areas: Thane
Muktai
Work Areas: Chembur
Chaitanya
Work Areas: Thane
Savitribaiphulle
Work Areas: Chembur (compost
basket manufacturing)
Priyadarshini
Work Areas: Chembur
No. 10
Work Areas:

22. • Securing of work contracts
• Running of scrap shops
Providing
• Educational and Health facilities for
them and their children
• Group Insurance
• Inclusion of waste pickers as special
group in PDS (antyoday)
Organization’s role

23. Organization’s role
• Interface with Municipal Corporations
Access to resources
• Household survey of these women for BPL
status and their inclusion (200 groups and
2000 women so far) under SJSRY
Permission for issuing of identity cards
• Grant of Rs.10,000/- to each group as
running capital to start their micro
enterprises

24. Organization’s role
• Formation of federation of groups known
as Parisar Bhagini Vikas Sangha (PBVS).
Registration of the federation under
Charitable Trusts Act and recognition of the
PBVS as a Community Development
Society.
• Provision of a tempo-vehicles for
collection of dry waste and inclusion of
Parisar Bhaginis in such schemes in five-
municipal wards
• Recognition to SMS as the training Institute
for waste pickers

25. Organization’s role
• Vocational training of women under SJSRY
• Under infrastructure development of SJSRY,
sanction to construct sheds in five wards
for storage of dry waste which will operate
on Cooperative basis under the aegis of
PBVS
• Approval of design submitted by SMS for
the composting of wet waste in pits
measuring 5’x 3’x 2’

26. Mumbai (11 Comunities)
Govandi – Gautamnagar, Rafiqnagar,
Ramanmama
Mankhurd – Sathenagar
Chembur – Anandnagar, Pestomsagar,
Amarmahal, Shramajeevinagar
Sion – Prateeksha
Kanjurmarg
Powai
Navi Mumbai (9 Communities)
Vashi , Nerul, Digha, Turbhe, Thane Belapur Road
Thane (2 Communities)
Waghle Estate (Sathenagar)
Vartaknagar (Bhimnagar)
Dombivili (2 Communities)
Jyotinagar, Siddarthnagar

27. Rally in March 2010

28. AIW efforts : Policy
Urban development
A circular from the
central to the state
government issued on
20th March 2010
highlighting the
contribution of
wastepickers to cities
and specifically advised
how to support
wastepickers .

29. AIW efforts : Policy
Environment
A committee has been
formed with an AIW
member on the committee
. The role of the
committee is to examine
the role of wastepickers in
municipal solid waste
management and suggest
necessary amendments to
the Municipal Solid Waste
(Management and
Handing) Rule, 2000

30. Glass Metal Green Plastic landfill

31. Contribution of waste pickers to the
city
Reduction in Waste Handling
Reduction in transport costs
Supply of raw material to
Recycling factories
Saving space at Dumping Ground
Resource recovery in form of
valuable compost
Conservation of environment

32. SEGREGATED WASTE
HOUSE WIFE
HOUSE ASSISTANT
SOCIETY SWEEPER
WATCHMAN
MUNICIPAL WORKER
WASTE PICKER

33. Our vision for solid waste management
and climate change
•Decentralised
•Low Cost
•Energy Efficient
•Labour Friendly
•High resource recovery
•Environmentally sound
•Sustainable

35. Business Models developed
by SMS
600 women are working at various 190 locations
through their respective Cooperatives
•Model 1 Women are involved in house to house
collection of waste and fine segregation, processing
of waste and recycling of dry waste
•Model 2 Collection of Non medical waste from
hospitals
•Model 3 Collection of dry waste from Malls

36. • Lack of awareness amongst general public
• Apathy towards poor
• Not in my back yard (NIMBY) attitude
• Out of site out of mind
• Reluctance for segregation at source
• Promotion of wastepicking?
The Hurdles at the Societal
Level

37. Business Models developed
by SMS
•Model 4 Maintenance of Biogas plants
Model 5 Collection of Post consumer tetra Pak
Cartons and sending them to recycler
Model 6 Collection of dry waste from
Special Economic zone and disposal

38. Business Models developed
By SMS
Model 7 Collection of dry waste from
Corporates and providing them recycled paper
Model 8 Collection of dry waste with Municipal
vehicle
Model 9 Collection of waste from school and college
campuses

39. • Independent Self Employed
Workers to service providers.
• Steady Income
• Fixed Hours Health Care
• Compulsory Saving

40. INTEGRATION OF WASTE PICKERS INTO SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT
RecyclingShed
House to house
collection
Composting

43. 100% recycled giveaways…
scribble pads, note books, bags, napkins…

44. To realize ‘Zero Waste’ situation, Parisar Vikas has trained poor women who are
called Trained Parisar Bhaginis. They are trained in waste handling, collection,
transportation, dry waste segregation, compost pit management, biogas plant
management and gardening

47. Anaerobic
digester
Thermophilic
Aerobic digester
Recycle
water tank
Methane utilization
Methane holder
Manure pits
Platform
Mixer
Solar heater
Compressor
Compressor
Gas blower
Gas meter
Weighing Scale
Fly repellent lamp
Gas balloon (O)
Water removal chambers
Manure utilization
Methane recycler
2010
Aeration grid

48. Biogas Plants
Output- Biogas and Manure
• Suitable for larger quantities of organic waste
• Plant Capacity can rang from 100- 5000Kg/day
•Output – Biogas (useful for cooking) and Manure
•Larger plants (>2000 Kgs perday) can also be used
• to generate electricity
Construction of the plant
Utilization of gas and manure
Operation and Maintenance of the units
O & M of 7 Plants
BARC, Tata Power, TISS,
TIFR, Shatabdi Hospital
100 Kg Biogas Plant at TISS

50. • Illiteracy
• Poverty-double duty
• Lack of work culture
• Distance between home and work
place
• Availability of waste on the streets
• Low income
• Gender bias and gender stereo types
within the recycling industry
The Hurdles at the waste
picker level

51. • Vested interests in transport of waste
• Threat from privatization of waste
management.
• Preference for Centralized Waste
Management – high on technological
solutions while ignoring human interest
• Promotion of highly hazardous and
environmentally-unfriendly incineration
technologies
The Macro Hurdle at the
Policy Level

52. Future Plans
• Greater visibility within the urban poor and
informal workers sector
• Social security for the aged and vulnerable
waste pickers and their family
• Accessing benefits under various existing
schemes for Pension, education, health
etc., schemes for the migrant, illiterate
citizens of the city

53. • School admissions under RTE
• Benefits at private and
Government hospitals
• Social security schemes for the
aged, disabled, widows.

54. • Empower waste pickers’ federation
and cooperatives to become
economically independent and self-
sustaining
• Restriction of the role of SMS as
trainer, advisor and facilitator
• The constant Endeavour would be to
mainstream waste pickers into the
larger SWM cycle

55. Thanks
Jyoti Mhapsekar
Stree Mukti Sanghatana
Parisar Vikas
smsmum@gmail.com
www.streemuktisanghatana.org