What a bright idea!

THE ENTREPRENEUR OF CHANGE

Poornima chikarmane

Laxmi narayan

FOUNDERS OF SWaCH

Long before civic bodies in India began even talking of separating dry and wet waste to improve
waste management and reduce the pressure on landfills; two young lecturers in Pune undertook an
experiment. Conducting adult education classes in the Yerawada slums in 1990, the SNDT
University lecturers Poornima Chikarmane and Laxmi Narayan couldn't bear to see little girls
rummaging through stinking garbage bins.
"It was disheartening to see that these children wanted to go to school but couldn't. We realized that
even NGOs working in the slums were blind to their plight. It was as if they were non-existent," says
Poornima. They decided to 'rescue' these children of rag-pickers by urging people in a small pocket
in Yerawada to segregate garbage so that rag-pickers needn't sift through the waste and recover what
was recyclable. They hoped it would reduce the women's work and free their children to attend
school. Laxmi (40), coordinator of the programme for 'empowerment of women waste-pickers' in
SNDT's department of adult and continuing education and Poornima (now in her mid-40s), assistant
director in the same department, have transformed the world of around 7,000 waste
pickers. Spending days with them to understand the mechanics of garbage collection and meeting
them at their homes at night helped Laxmi and Poornima understand their plight. "NGOs complained

that the waste-pickers never came for meetings, little realizing that these women were going around
all day looking for garbage. With us, they were friendly and cooperative as we were ready to meet
them at night, after their day's work," said Laxmi, who like Poornima, originally hails from
Mumbai. These women were also routinely exploited by policemen, harassed by slum-dwellers and
tormented by their husbands. Laxmi found it extraordinary that "these women were cheerful,
energetic and had a sense of humor. People like us, who have all comforts of life complain so
much."

When this project clicked, they took guidance from social worker Baba Adhav and in 1993,
established the first of its kind union of waste-pickers in Pune the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari
Panchayat. With 6,300 of 7,000 in the Pune metropolitan area joining the union, their voice was
heard sympathetically by the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporations, which became
the first in the country to issue I-cards for waste-pickers. This helped boost their self-confidence.

Many children from rag-picker families now go to school in Pune, and are doing well too. "More
than the education of their children and better quality of life, their self-confidence is most satisfying,"
says Laxmi, adding, "They are ready to raise their voice at any platform."

SWaCH
About SWaCH
SWaCH (Solid Waste Collection and Handling or, officially, SWaCH Seva Sahakari Sanstha
Maryadit, Pune) is Indias first wholly-owned cooperative of self-employed waste pickers
or waste collectors and other urban poor. It is an autonomous enterprise that provides front-end
waste management services to the citizens of Pune.

Started 2008

Revenues Rs 11 lakh per month*

Employees 35

Customers 292,000 households

Social Impact Livelihood with dignity for scavengers/ rag pickers in Pune.

Thriving On Waste
By 1993, after many meetings with social workers and waste pickers, the Kagad Kach Patra
Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP) was formed. Nearly 6,300 of 7,000 waste pickers in Pune joined
the union. The numbers were too huge to be ignored by the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad
Municipal Corporations. Since these women were helping the municipality by removing waste,
municipalities began issuing photo IDs and a red pass to waste pickers. Over time, the number
increased to nearly 10,000, says Malati Gadgil, the current CEO of Swach. The ID card allowed
them to legitimately scavenge, reducing police brutality.
In 2000, when the Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) rules were announced,
there was pressure on the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to bring corporates into waste
management. This raised fears of a loss of livelihood for the nearly 10,000 waste collectors.
Municipalities had been given a timeframe of 10 years to adhere to the new rules. While KKPKP
continued its waste collection work like before, it also began intense lobbying with
environmentalists, politicians and municipal commissioners to ensure that private waste
management companies would stay out of garbage collection and disposal. Swach was born out
of KKPKP in 2008. With the parent promoting it as an autonomous enterprise providing frontend waste management services to the citizens of Pune rather than bringing in corporates.
Swach members today bridge the garbage gap between households and the PMC through doorto-door waste collection as well as by segregating dry and wet garbage and passing it on for
recycling. We had started doing this work informally in 2006 itself, before Swach was formed,
says Gadgil. The organization today covers nearly 292,000 houses across Punealmost a third
of the citys householdsthrough 1,900 doorstep collectors. Nearly 40% of the average waste
pickers daily earnings come from households monthly payments while about 60% is earned by
selling scrap from the garbage collected.

Not a Dirty Job: CEO Malati Gadgil (in pink) is justifiably proud of Swachs achievements.

Essential Service
Gadgil strongly believes that recycling will not work unless these waste pickers at the bottom of
the pyramid segregate waste. If you bring in myopic waste management companies, it will not
only lead to loss of livelihood but also make recycling impossible, she says. These waste
management companies typically either dump waste in landfill sites (which is becoming difficult
now with more areas coming under habitation) or burn it. Burning requires energy, which is also
wasted. So you are actually wasting energy on waste, says Gadgil.
Realizing that it is impossible to manage waste without manual help, Swach is now growing
laterally. We are now offering waste-related services like sweeping, housekeeping, street
cleaning and composting, says Gadgil. These services, offered by the Swach+ division, are
bringing in revenues of around Rs 11 lakh a month. We are breaking even, she adds.
Swach also has two scrap recycling stores, at Chinchwad and Katraj. Waste pickers sell their
recyclables at the shops (they are free to sell to anyone outside as well) and earn money as
members of the cooperative. The store at Chinchwad has been making profits since it started in
1998. In 2010, Rs 2.35 lakh was distributed as bonus among the 82 waste pickers who are
currently the members of the cooperative scrap store. Indu Radhakrishna Borade, a waste picker,
received a whopping Rs 23,283 as a bonus that year. Its not only money; its money with
dignity. We are now seen as service providers and not as people to be hated or looked down
upon, explains Borade while separating waste outside the Chinchwad scrap shop.

PMC Deal
Swach has inked a memorandum of understanding with the PMC, which helps meet its
administrative expenses. The latter paid Rs 14 lakh towards Swachs expenses in 2007 while it
was being set up and Rs 1.2 crore in 2008 when it became operational. It subsequently got Rs 90
lakh in 2010 and Rs 70 lakh this year. The amount has been reducing every year now as
members of Swach give back 5% of their earnings towards administrative expenses. The idea is
to become sustainable and scalable, says Gadgil.
And her staff is not complaining. Kanta Mohan Shinde says, We prefer to work for Swach as it
is a much cleaner job. Moreover, we get money out of the dry waste every day. That gives us
liquid cash. These rag pickers are so happy with their work that they dont want to become
domestic help despite the availability of opportunities. This work is also better because we can
go home whenever we want, Shinde says. There is no regulation over us and nobody asks
unnecessary questions. Domestic work puts many restrictions on us, she adds.
Swach is planning three more recycling stores in Chikkli, Thergaon and Sanghvi in Pune. The
space for all these stores has been provided by the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation
(PCMC). One of the new shops will mainly deal with mobile scrap, says Gadgil. Currently, all
the e-waste (electronic waste) goes to Delhi or Mumbai for segregation and extraction. Up to
60% of this waste is removed and re-used, leaving huge scope for money generation. We have
taken the necessary approvals to dismantle e-waste. We will begin it soon, she adds.
This seems to be just the beginning for the enterprise. Over a period of time, the aim is to start
large-scale composting, biogas plants and e-waste handling, explains Gadgil. Clearly, Swach
has big plans. It helps that it is backed by an army of women who also dream big.

IMPACT OF SWaCH
Sarubai Waghmare never went to any school and had a difficult childhood, being a rag
picker. But she earned a rare distinction that became the subject of envy among her
neighbors, as well as the other 2500 rag pickers in her vicinity. She got a pat on her
back from none other than India's renowned actor-producer-director, Aamir Khan, for
her contribution towards nation building. She was featured in Aamir Khan productions'
Satyamev Jayate. The episode which aired on Sunday saw about 1200 rag pickers
in Pune applauded for Sarubai and Laxmi Narayan who are the governing board
members of SWaCH. We took up waste picking because we are uneducated. I started
working when I was 10 years old. But in 2004, when the Swach Sanghatana was formed,
many of our problems were solved."She has also travelled abroad to share the prolems faced
by her and others like her.