Over the past month and a half, I was finally able to begin my primary research. In early April, I sat down with Shashi to determine where I should go for my field visits. He explained different characteristics of the areas in which AIKMM waste pickers were living and working. I want to speak with people across the city in order to determine if there are different problems in different areas, and to document as many perspectives as possible. I decided that I wanted to do six field visits in the following areas of Delhi: (1) Connaught Place, (2) Seemapuri, (3) Madanpur Khadar, (4) Rangpuri Pahari, (5) Gazipur, and (6) Rithala. They are all distinct from one another, not only because they are in different parts of the city, but also because of the way that waste is collected and the competition they face from other stakeholders in the waste management system. For example, in Seemapuri, Rithala, and Madanpur Khadar, waste pickers often engage in door-to-door collection from households, whereas in Connaught Place, they often collect from office buildings, and in Gazipur, they collect from the nearby landfill (see last two photos in the gallery at the bottom).
I did my first field visit on April 28 in Seemapuri. There were large piles of waste lying on the main street, and people were in the process of sorting these piles into categories of over twenty different kinds of waste: aluminum, cardboard, different grades of plastic, shoe soles, etc. I was introduced to a number of people working, and then finally taken to the home of a woman named Neha (names changed). Shashi, my research assistant, Neha, a few other waste pickers, and I sat on the floor in her one-room home, and began the interview. Neha was incredibly helpful and spoke to me for an hour. She told me about the problems that waste pickers in Seemapuri face with the government; they collect waste from houses and community bins in order to sort and sell recyclables, but the government will take the waste away from them and make them pay to retrieve it. This issue is augmented by the fact that waste pickers typically don’t have anywhere to sort and store waste; they prefer to save recyclables for a longer period of time and sell them in bulk so they can get higher prices from the recycling industry. They typically store the recyclables near their homes, but often don’t have enough space to keep them inside. Consequently, they have to store the waste in public spaces and the government claims that it has a right to the waste.
I spoke to four more people in Seemapuri. Another interesting theme that came from the conversations was that the interviewees did not want their work to be ‘formalized.’ My senior thesis was based on a model that was introduced in Pune (a city in the south of India) in which the government gave waste picker cooperatives a formal contract and paid the waste pickers regular wages for door-to-door waste collection and segregation. As mentioned in my previous post, many development scholars consider ‘formalization’ the best option for workers in the informal economy because it regularizes their income and (hypothetically) provides them with social benefits such as health insurance and social security. Because I wrote my senior thesis while in the U.S. and therefore was relying on articles and books as opposed to primary sources, I only considered the narrative that formalization or integration is what informal workers want. Perhaps this is the case for some workers, but my interviews in Seemapuri proved otherwise. I asked each of the interviewees if they would like a contract or regular wages from the government, and all of them said no because they enjoy/require the freedom of working in the informal sector. They can take days off when they need to, they can work other jobs, they can take care of their kids, they can send a family member to work in their place … there are a number of reasons; however, these responses demonstrate that formality is not always desirable.
Since Seemapuri, I have completed two more field visits: Connaught Place and Madanpur Khadar. Connaught Place was very interesting because of the comments about the waste pickers’ relationship with the municipal government. Delhi has two main municipal corporations: New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). New Delhi is actually a very small part of Delhi (see map below) and it is managed by NDMC. Of my six field sites, Connaught Place is the only one in NDMC area. Waste pickers in both Seemapuri and Madanpur Khadar complained about having to bribe the police/government in order to complete their work. Waste pickers in Connaught Place; however, reported that their relationship with NDMC was relatively fair. Many said that a few years back, they also had to bribe the police not to take away their collected waste, but that in recent years, an NGO called Chintan has provided them with identity cards which most policemen respect. Furthermore, of the six people with whom I spoke in Connaught Place, five of them reported that they did want a formal contract with the government for waste collection and segregation (which was opposite from the responses of the interviewees in Seemapuri). There are a couple of possible explanations for the differing responses between Seemapuri and Connaught Place: (1) it could be an issue of gender, as most of the people I spoke to in Connaught Place were men, whereas most of the people I spoke to in Seemapuri were women. Men and women seem to have different roles in the waste collection and segregation process, and therefore may have different ideas about how their work can be improved. Furthermore, it is possible that women don’t want formal contracts because they are responsible for the home and family, and therefore need more freedom in their schedule, whereas men might be more concerned about regularizing their wages; (2) because it seems that the relationship of waste pickers with the municipal corporation is better in NDMC areas than in MCD areas, it is possible that waste pickers in NDMC areas (such as Connaught Place) trust the government and its ability to provide social services and regular wages more than waste pickers in the MCD areas.
I spoke to four more people in Seemapuri. Another interesting theme that came from the conversations was that the interviewees did not want their work to be ‘formalized.’ My senior thesis was based on a model that was introduced in Pune (a city in the south of India) in which the government gave waste picker cooperatives a formal contract and paid the waste pickers regular wages for door-to-door waste collection and segregation. As mentioned in my previous post, many development scholars consider ‘formalization’ the best option for workers in the informal economy because it regularizes their income and (hypothetically) provides them with social benefits such as health insurance and social security. Because I wrote my senior thesis while in the U.S. and therefore was relying on articles and books as opposed to primary sources, I only considered the narrative that formalization or integration is what informal workers want. Perhaps this is the case for some workers, but my interviews in Seemapuri proved otherwise. I asked each of the interviewees if they would like a contract or regular wages from the government, and all of them said no because they enjoy/require the freedom of working in the informal sector. They can take days off when they need to, they can work other jobs, they can take care of their kids, they can send a family member to work in their place … there are a number of reasons; however, these responses demonstrate that formality is not always desirable.
Since Seemapuri, I have completed two more field visits: Connaught Place and Madanpur Khadar. Connaught Place was very interesting because of the comments about the waste pickers’ relationship with the municipal government. Delhi has two main municipal corporations: New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). New Delhi is actually a very small part of Delhi (see map below) and it is managed by NDMC. Of my six field sites, Connaught Place is the only one in NDMC area. Waste pickers in both Seemapuri and Madanpur Khadar complained about having to bribe the police/government in order to complete their work. Waste pickers in Connaught Place; however, reported that their relationship with NDMC was relatively fair. Many said that a few years back, they also had to bribe the police not to take away their collected waste, but that in recent years, an NGO called Chintan has provided them with identity cards which most policemen respect. Furthermore, of the six people with whom I spoke in Connaught Place, five of them reported that they did want a formal contract with the government for waste collection and segregation (which was opposite from the responses of the interviewees in Seemapuri). There are a couple of possible explanations for the differing responses between Seemapuri and Connaught Place: (1) it could be an issue of gender, as most of the people I spoke to in Connaught Place were men, whereas most of the people I spoke to in Seemapuri were women. Men and women seem to have different roles in the waste collection and segregation process, and therefore may have different ideas about how their work can be improved. Furthermore, it is possible that women don’t want formal contracts because they are responsible for the home and family, and therefore need more freedom in their schedule, whereas men might be more concerned about regularizing their wages; (2) because it seems that the relationship of waste pickers with the municipal corporation is better in NDMC areas than in MCD areas, it is possible that waste pickers in NDMC areas (such as Connaught Place) trust the government and its ability to provide social services and regular wages more than waste pickers in the MCD areas.
So far, my interviews have been productive. The two most common issues that waste pickers have referenced are (1) lack of space and (2) having to pay the police and government to retain their collected waste. First, they need space to sort their waste. Some have to pay rent for the space where they sort, and land in Delhi is very expensive; therefore, many have requested that the government provide them with a small plot of land where they can do there work. This request seems reasonable because they are one of the only forms of recycling in Delhi and therefore a major asset to the environmental practices and sanitation of the city. Second, many mentioned that the police and some citizens still see them as ‘stealing’ the trash and therefore, they are forced to pay bribes to continue their work. Once again, this is a shame because the government does not provide door-to-door collection services, and therefore the waste pickers fill another important gap in Delhi's waste management system.
I also decided to administer a short survey as a side project for my research. It is designed to obtain the perspective of Delhi citizens regarding waste management, and also to gain a better understanding of the way waste is handled in different areas of the city. I have had many conversations with people in Delhi about how they have seen waste being disposed of, and it has become clear that it differs between neighborhoods. If you would like to see the survey, please follow this link (but please don’t fill it out if you don’t live in Delhi!): https://chloe53.typeform.com/to/p6uFgh
If you happen to have any friends/family in Delhi, feel free to send it along to them; the more responses the better. I have already received fifty responses and they have been very interesting. I will disclose more about them in my next blog post.
Once again, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding my research (I didn’t go into full detail for the sake of brevity), please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].
I also decided to administer a short survey as a side project for my research. It is designed to obtain the perspective of Delhi citizens regarding waste management, and also to gain a better understanding of the way waste is handled in different areas of the city. I have had many conversations with people in Delhi about how they have seen waste being disposed of, and it has become clear that it differs between neighborhoods. If you would like to see the survey, please follow this link (but please don’t fill it out if you don’t live in Delhi!): https://chloe53.typeform.com/to/p6uFgh
If you happen to have any friends/family in Delhi, feel free to send it along to them; the more responses the better. I have already received fifty responses and they have been very interesting. I will disclose more about them in my next blog post.
Once again, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding my research (I didn’t go into full detail for the sake of brevity), please don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].