A series examining livelihoods. Part 1 takes a look at the unenviable lives of garbage cleaners in Bangalore

Pourakarmikas

Graphic pictures of mounds of stinking garbage lying abandoned by roadsides appear every other day in newspapers. Captions range from an enraged “Is the BBMP listening” to a polite but irritated “Will the Commissioner kindly look into this?” reinforcing the belief that BBMP workers, like all other Govt. employees, were at best ineffective. On digging deeper into the lives of the lot called “Pourakarmikas”, I discovered that the muck stopped elsewhere.

Same dirt, different day
“We used to receive chappals, gloves, raincoats, soap, even blankets from the Govt. during Indira Gandhi’s regime. In the last 25 years we have been forced to procure even the brooms ourselves” say Shantamma and Annama, BBMP Pourakarmikas, standing outside their homes in JagJivan Ram Nagar. Their day begins at 6 am in Chikpet. Duties are officially to collect garbage in baskets, segregate them into wet and dry, sweep the streets and finally manually load the collection into lorries. “We are called to perform all kinds of odd jobs including picking up fallen trees. Residents dump garbage in open spaces inspite of us going from door to door to collect waste. Thanks to pushing almost 150kg of garbage in carts up and down the street, we suffer from neck and back injuries.” Segregating glass pieces, medical waste and septic wastes from drains with bare hands and feet and working amidst poisonous fumes in garbage dumps mean a plethora of health issues and frequent visits to hospitals. Does the govt. provide for health insurance? What about the free health kits mentioned in the BBMP 2008-2009 budget? “We have our health cards, but are not granted entry into most hospitals due to our caste status. Distribution of kits is also erratic.” How about free housing? The area I visited was supposed to be an exclusive housing colony built for Govt. workers. “Madam, how is it free when they deduct rent from our monthly salary?”

Contract workers face worse
“Since 1983, Govt has not employed permanent BBMP workers, preferring to outsource to about 30 contractors. The condition of daily wage labourers working for contractors is pitiable. They have no insurance or benefits and often have to work overtime due to labour shortage. While the recommended monthly pay for contract workers is Rs.5400, in reality they only get about Rs. 2100” says Subbarayudu who heads the Pourakarmika Sangha. An RTI application filed by Subbarayudu reveals that BBMP spends over 6 crores a month on garbage cleaning contracts alone. The biggest contractor employs about 415 Pourakarmikas and gets paid 25 lakhs a month. Isn’t there a way to penalize non-performing contractors? “Yes, through warnings, fines, non-renewal of contracts and finally blacklisting based on regular inspection by BBMP office-bearers. All contracts continue to be renewed year after year. There has been no instance of even fining. You can figure out why” says the dejected leader, speaking strongly about lobbies, political clout and pressure tactics.

The numbers speak volumes about the condition of these workers. Their wages have seen a mere 10% increase in the last 16 years with greatly reduced benefits. Not to mention unhygienic work conditions with little or no leave and having to deal with public apathy over waste disposal. Hope rides on larger battles being fought by proactive forums to promote transparency and accountability in the Govt. eventually leading to better living conditions for these people, but that could be a long-drawn process.

In the meantime
CMCA (Child Movement for Civic Awareness), a city NGO, organizes the “Pourakarmika Day” every year to salute these unsung heroes and sensitize children and adults to the ordeals faced by the Pourakarmikas and problems related to waste management. “In the last 30 years, no one has ever thanked me for what I do” said an overwhelmed worker in last year’s function. Organizations like Alternative Law Forum (ALF) and ESG India have produced films on the topic to promote waste segregation at source and lessen the burden on the workers. CFH International along with Christ College has started a capacity building program for contract Pourakarmikas.

It is however going to take more than a few well-meaning NGOs to change things around. Before channelling your frustration over a dirty city through photographs to newspapers, know that it is not BBMP’s job to clean up garbage from open sites where your friendly neighbour tosses his waste. Sift through a full dustbin in your house and try to separate dry from wet, and biodegradable from what’s not with your bare hands. Walk down to the nearest park and watch the Pourakarmikas go about their job. Let me know if you are still not convinced about segregating your house garbage.