Conserve India is working towards making rag-pickers of our country climb the social ladder and earn the respect they deserve

An ignorant Wikipedia article describes rag-pickers as a term for someone who made a living by rummaging through refuge in the streets to collect material for salvage. Then it informs us that while such a practice is no more functional in the first-world, it is active in the so-called third-world countries. And, it goes on to quote an example of India! I know what you will say India is not a third-world country. I know you will say how we are the leaders of the G20 nations, and that we are at par with China in terms of economic growth. I know you remember the GDP figures, like you remember your telephone number. But each morning, that young pre-adolescent who comes to collect the garbage from your place does not understand all your jargons, nor is he interested in them. The man who collects the waste you dump on the streets is unaware of the so-called economic growth that you rant about in get togethers. Rag-picking is all that he cares about, as it gives him a chance to eke out a living-a hand-to-mouth survival. While most of these people continue to live in inhuman conditions, there are some who escape a bit; get a better home, send their children to school, and go to a doctor when they get ill. Who are these rag-pickers who get a little more lucky? These are the ragpickers who work for Conserve India. Started in 1998 by Anita and Shailendra Ahuja, Conserve India is one of the handful of organizations which takes care of the poorest of poor and ensures that they get their right to a better life. A very long time ago, before the Ahujas started the NGO, one day they met their colony residents and spoke about the heaps and piles of garbage that was nearly submerging their locality. Other residents, too, were rightfully worried about the possibility of germs and infections that could spread due to the mess. So, they decided to team up and clean up the residential area on their own. In the process, they realised that it was impossible to create a zero-waste zone, owing to the non-biodegradable plastic bags, floating around on every corner of the country. And thus was born Conserve India, an NGO which takes plastic bags from ragpickers, recycles them and turns them into high-end fashionable products. “We wanted to work for the rag-pickers because they really are the most marginalised,” says Anita Ahuja. “They do not have any social skill set or any vocational skill set. We take them in and train them so that they get factory jobs and improve their lives.” When Ahuja began, she collaborated with 25 rag-pickers. Today, the number has gone up to a remarkable 300 workers or collaborators. There were several more former ragpickers who have been promoted to senior ranks, and are now involved in the key functions of the organization. The process that they follow is quite simple; the rag-pickers collect the waste which is brought in to their factory where it is sorted according to the material, and then it is cleaned, and cut out in proper shapes and sizes, and then it goes into the machines, where it is recycled and converted into thick fabric, which is then used to making the much fashionable bags. Ahuja informs us that these bags are quite in-demand and that they are able to not just scrape through, but also make profits out these bags. It is these bags which pay for the salaries of the many rag-pickers and the factory workers. For an NGO which started with a mere investment of `10 lakh, they seemed to have done well for themselves. The rag-pickers, who, before Conserve India happened to them, were scrapping through and barely managing on one square meal a day. Today they are rewarded a monthly salary which ranges between `4,800 to `5,200. That is not all. Conserve India’s main ambition was and remains to train rag-pickers and help them climb the economic and social ladder. The collaborators associated with Conserve India are trained so that they can build up a skill set and join the skilled labour set. “Primarily, when they just come in, the rag-pickers are trained in cutting the polythene, identifying colors, and sorting all cuttings, etc. Once a particular person shows promise, we promote him or her to the next level. He or she is then trained in factory work such as running the machines and maintaining them. And they are also responsible for quality control,” says Ahuja. Once the rag-pickers become factory employees, they get benefits such as provident fund, medical insurance, holidays, et al. Their children are sent to schools, run by the community, and are provided with doctors, who also run the community healthcare programme. The rag-pickers have much to benefit from Conserve India; and the most important aspect of the non-government organization is that they provide rag-pickers the respect they deserve. “When you ask a rag-picker to sit on a chair and treat him or her as your equal, you immediately see a change,” says Ahuja, and goes on to add that, “When you say you love your country, you surely do not mean you love the land, the mud and the rocks in it, right? What is the point of loving the country, if you can not love its people?” A well-made point. While most of us in our blissful ignorant state are still treating our ‘beloved’ country as a dustbin, there are some like Ahuja, who are busy cleaning it.