‘Waste pickers vital part of the society’

PUNE: On International Waste Pickers’ Day, which is observed on March 1, the story of Anuradha Bhosale stands out as a shining example of someone who has advocated rights and welfare of waste pickers and their children. 

She considers waste pickers as among the most important parts of society. “Yet, they are neglected. They face discrimination. They don’t earn well compared to what revenue is generated in recycling companies. They don’t have health cards or concessions for basic access to good hospitals,” said Bhosale.

“We are trying to and convince the State and central governments to bring in better policies for them,” stated 52-year-old Bhosale, who is based in Kolhapur. 

A leader in Collective Impact Partnership (CIP) a programme to address women’s rights, health and leadership -- Bhosale currently provides guidance to waste pickers in 22 slum areas of Sangli, Satara and Kolhapur.

HOW IT STARTED
She holds a Masters degree in Social Work, after which she volunteered for Avani Foundation. 

In the past 24 years, she has rehabilitated about 14,000 children across Maharashtra, including Latur, Beed, Nashik and many other regions.  It was during this time that Bhosale came across about 294 children who were out of school and were involved in waste picking. “From here, my work with waste pickers started,” said Bhosale in flawless English, shattering the myth that those coming from a poor economic background cannot master the queen’s language.

FAMILY ISSUES
“While working with them, we realised that we have to work with the community as well. We started speaking to their parents and found out that many mothers needed help in their work -- may be to take care of their younger child or carry the garbage vehicle, she said. 

“We identified around 10 slum areas and initiated different programmes for women. Initially, we started with health check-up campaigns and then educated them about their health. Slowly, we started counselling them,” she added.

TRYST WITH ENGLISH
She narrated a small struggle behind learning English. “I was almost rejected by the selector of College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan, for not knowing English. They believed it would be a barrier in learning since I only knew Marathi and Hindi,” she said. 

“But, I convinced them that I will learn the language and it will not cause a problem. It was a Friday. The selectors asked for some time to consider the case and by Monday, I was selected. But for those three days and nights, I stayed at the VT station (now CST station in Mumbai),” said Bhosale, who had travelled from her native Bhokar village in Ahmednagar district.