Rising From the Ash Heap: Waste Collectors Assert their Humanity
Photos by Naveen Kishore
By custom, waste collectors are not permitted to travel in buses and other public transport, nor to enter public spaces such as restaurants because of the foul smell of their bodies. Without protection from masks, shoes, gloves or uniforms, they handle garbage and debris that includes animal carcasses, human wastes, rusted metal pieces, glass, hospital refuse and other toxic and dangerous wastes. Not surprisingly, they suffer serious skin infections, eye disorders, respiratory tract disorders and other injuries.
A waste collector at work unloading garbage at a Mumbai (Bombay) dump site
By helping waste collectors improve their health, welfare and bargaining power, Milind Ranade (right) is challenging the prescribed status of menial workers in Indian cities. To do this, he has launched a new kind of Indian labor union (Kachra Vahtuk Sanghash Samiti or KVSS): an autonomous, apolitical organization that is committed to the welfare of untouchable waste collectors who have been neglected by India's mainstream labor organizations.
Milind Ranade meets with waste collectors
