Dharwad: Women to be trained to drive tippers for garbage collection

HUBBALLI: After Bellary Corporation, Dharwad Zilla Panchayat has decided to train women to drive garbage collection tippers.
Women drivers will visit every household in all gram panchayats of Dharwad district to collect waste. Driving lessons for more than 50 women from Self-Help Groups (SHGs) will begin soon.
The Sanjeevini SHGs, formed under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) and registered under the State Cooperative Act, comprises 10 to 20 women members on average who receive livelihood training and financial assistance through the NRLM and Karnataka State Rural Livelihood Promotion Society (KSRLPS).
The sessions are for the women from SHGs who were already involved with the initiative and who had expressed their interest in working for the collection of garbage and had got training for garbage segregation in dry and wet conditions. It is the first attempt of its kind in the Dharwad district. Suresh Itnal, CEO, Dharwad Zilla Panchayat, said door-to-door garbage collection was introduced in 89 of the total 144 gram panchayats. The drive involves three members each for a tipper in each gram panchayat.
Training for 59 women of the total 432 is planned in the first phase. The driving lessons will be given at the driving training centre of NWKRTC. “Once the training under the first phase concludes, we will send the second batch,” he added.
Currently, at two gram panchayats in Dharwad district, two women are driving auto tippers. Meharunnisa Mulla of Shivalli gram panchayat and Manjula Madanbhavi of Marewad gram panchayat are driving auto tippers and collecting garbage. “Because they were having driving licences, they were allowed to drive auto tippers,” said Suresh Itnal.
The local members of SHGs identified for the garbage collection and disposal were already given training for five days on how to collect, segregate and dispose of the collected garbage.