DELHI SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK

NAME- Zareen Abbas

IIIrd Semester
Submitted to Mrs. Archana Kaushik
Social welfare and Adminitratiom
INTRODUCTION

Urban poverty in India is associated with unsanitary living conditions, limited or no access to
services, a high dependence on labour markets, complex social relationships, and high levels
of vulnerability. (Loughhead, 2011)

The working group on Urban poverty appointed by the National commission on urbanisation
stated that “the most demanding of the urban challenges, unquestionably, is the challenge
posed by urban poverty; the challenge of reducing exploitation, relieving misery and creating
more humane conditions for working, living and growth for those disadvantaged people who
have made the city their home already or are in the process of doing so. The task of
adequately feeding, educating, housing and employing a large and rapidly growing number of
under-nourished, semi-literate, semi-skilled, underemployed and impoverished city dwellers
who are living on pavements, in poorly serviced chawls, in unhygienic slums, in illegal
squatters and other forms of degraded and inadequate settlements and who are struggling to
make a living from low paying and unstable occupations, in a reasonable time span is the
essence of development challenge facing the Indian Planners today.”

People making the move to urban centres do so in search of jobs and better lives, millions end
up living in slums, and conditions for the urban poor are going from bad to worse. Today, one
in six urban citizens in India live below the poverty line.

INTERVIEW OF A CHILD RAGPICKER FROM NEW SEEMAPURI

The Social work Trainee is placed in new seemapuri situated at outskirts of Delhi. Most of
the people here are engaged in rag picking occupation. Trainee is working with child rag
pickers for social development and upliftment in the community. They are ones who are
exploited and didn’t have access to their basic rights provided by the constitution of India.

I always had conversation with them on my field work day and I have specially interviewed
one of the child rag picker named Javed (Name changed) 13 years old who lives in “E-
44”slum area of new seemapuri. The interview is divided into different parameters

1. Health

Substance abuse is one of the mental disorders present among Rag-pickers and majority of
them were associated with mild depression and mild anxiety as common mental disorders.
Lives of these child rag pickers should address not only the physical hazards of their jobs but
their mental and emotional health as well. Unfulfilled health needs of this underprivileged
workforce who contributes to the ecology and economy of the city should need to be
adequately addressed. As Javed mentioned that “sometimes dumping grounds are so dirty,
when we are intoxicated it becomes easier for us to work”. He also stated that “sometime we
are hungry and cannot afford food so we chew tobacco as it kills hunger”. This all affects
their health. Rag picking is probably one of the most dangerous and dehumanizing activity in
India. Rag pickers are working in filthy environments, surrounded by crows or dogs under
any weather conditions and have to search through hazardous waste without gloves or shoes.
Using the dumping ground as a playing field the children run the risk to come upon needles,
syringes, used condoms, saline bottles, soiled gloves and other hospital wastes as well as
ample of plastic and iron items. They suffer from many diseases, such as respiratory
problems, worms, anaemia, fever and other problems which include cuts, rashes, dog bites.

The most commonly experienced diseases among rag pickers are Tuberculosis, Bronchitis,
Asthma, Pneumonia, Dysentery, Parasites and Malnutrition. Rag pickers tend to have very
poor health due to the consumption of unhygienic food and working in polluted environment
can lead to diarrhea, cold and scabies. They were highly exposed to tetanus and other
infections caused from cuts by sharp metal pieces, broken glass and other solid wastes. Mild
depression and mild anxiety is common among Ragpickers. Majority of them are associated
with mild depression and mild anxiety as common mental disorder. Monotonous work has
been associated with psychological distress. Static posture & heavy work in turn may lead to
depression and anxiety.

2. Social security

Rag picking as a profession is associated with a social stigma. Rag pickers recycle almost 20
per cent of India's wastes. Yet they are unrecognized, face discrimination and are not entitled
to government schemes. Since waste pickers are not recognized under Indian laws, they face
numerous forms of discrimination. Their basic rights are repeatedly violated disregarding
their contribution to society. Rag pickers often targeted and harassed by police and anti-social
elements as they are seen as vagrants and thieves. Rag pickers are not legally permitted by
state municipalities to collect, segregate and sell waste from garbage dumps across the
country, and they are deemed to be committing theft under the Indian Penal Code, 1860. No
recognition had made migrant rag pickers ineligible for government schemes, in addition to
facing insurmountable difficulties in obtaining ration cards, electricity and water facilities.
This had a significant negative impact on their standard of living as well as on their mental
and physical wellbeing. In new seemapuri mostly rag pickers are migrant because of which
they don’t have any identity proof. Moreover, their jobs are highly insecure. Waste pickers
previously had an informal sharing system that allowed a large number of them to collect
waste within the same area. However, post-privatization, fewer people were able to earn a
living from the same volume of waste. Also it is found that privatization had a negative
impact on their access to wastes as well as their capacity to earn a livelihood. Generally, there
is no employer-employee relationship in this trade even though it is possible that some of the
scrap picking activity is organised by contractors. Waste collectors are generally categorized
as self-employed. Scrap collectors are not covered under the Shops and Establishments Act,
as scrap traders do not provide any kind of receipts to them for the material they collect. No
social security benefits are available to workers in this sector

There is a lack of:

 Mandatory provision of identification cards that acknowledges the right of Rag

pickers to access, collect and sell waste in the country.
 Mandatory provision of subsidised waste picking gear, including shoes with metal
plated soles, gloves, protective and sorting tools through a public distribution system.
 Anodal body under the aegis of the department of labour for all matters pertaining to
the rights and welfare of Rag pickers.
 Inclusion of Rag pickers in all social welfare schemes.
3. Education

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (is Government of India's flagship programme for achievement of
Universalization of Elementary Education in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86th
amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory Education to the
Children of 6-14 years age group, a Fundamental Right. Despite of this children are forced in
rag picking profession due to main reason of poverty and social discrimination. Javed told me
that he went to school regularly but his teacher never marked his attendance because of which
he was rusticated from school and again he get indulged in rag picking. This incident show
that government schemes and provisions made in the constitution are not fulfilling the needs
of the most needy and vulnerable section of the society. Most of these children belong to
lower caste poor families where their parents are illiterate and unskilled. Though the children
get enrolled in school, they remain absent for long and subsequently drop out at primary stage
of education or. Very low priority is given to education of children, which also gets reflected
in the expenditure pattern of the ragpickers “households”.

4. Housing and Sanitation

Ragpickers in new seemapuri lives in slum area of “E-44” where streets are so narrow that
only one person can walk at one time. There is no day light in these street, sanitation facilities
are worst. Open drainage system im front of the houses and no place for garbage disposal
leads to many infections and diseases. Some jhuggies are illegal

Central Government schemes for urban poor

1.

Missing link between services and beneficiaries

The condition of child rag pickers is more vulnerable as most of them lack primary education,
immunization, sanitation, suffer from destitution and lead a life of uncertainty with
insecurity.

a) The Government must work out some specific legal provisions for the child rag pickers
and child labour should be strictly prohibited this job

(b) A scientific survey should be made on priority basis to identify child rag picker and his
families.

(c) Government should provide employment opportunities and benefits of poverty elevation
programme preferably to the head of child rag pickers family.

(d) The child rag pickers must be covered under Right to Education Act for formal primary
education.

(e) Medical service should be provided at the door step to each and every rag pickers at their
residence and place of work.

By Ministry of Labour, Government of India rag picking and other scrap collection are not a
new phenomenon especially in industrial towns and metropolitan cities. The Commission
recognizes the useful role played by the scrap collectors both in helping recycling activities as
well as in maintaining civic hygiene. . The measures that could be thought for the upliftment
of people indulged in ragpicking can be to provide identity cards, receipts for transactions,
minimum wages when they are employed by contractors or other employers, health facilities,
creation of welfare funds, prohibition of child labour from the activity.

The social work trainee found that their daily income is low it is recommended that to
increase their daily vocational training should be provided in order to develop the skills and
knowledge that would allow them to access to the various opportunities that would help them
attain a life of decency and dignity.