PCMC pays ₹7.5 crore in wage dues to waste pickers as many still await justice
310 waste pickers who have collectively received ₹7.5 crore from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation between March and June as their wage difference for the period 2013 to 2015 under the Minimum Wages Act
PUNE: Unable to read the message received on her mobile on May 31, Surekha Wadmare, called her son who asked her to send him a screenshot. She managed to do so with the help of neighbours only to have her son call back and inform her that she had received ₹2.80 lakh in her bank account. Surekha was speechless. She struggled to sleep that night as this was something she could not have imagined even in her wildest dreams. “I have never seen such a huge amount of money in my life,” she said, wearing a brand-new red sari that she bought the day after she received the payment.
Surekha is a waste picker. More precisely, she is among 310 waste pickers who have collectively received ₹7.5 crore from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) between March and June as their wage difference for the period 2013 to 2015 under the Minimum Wages Act. The reason these 310 waste pickers have got their dues is that they are members of Kagad Kaach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP), an association dedicated to improving the lives of waste pickers that has stood by them in their fight for justice.
With the PCMC having paid these waste pickers their dues, their lives stand transformed. While Surekha has decided to buy a two-room house for her family, having spent her entire life in a rented tin shed in Nigdi, others like her have used their money to clear loans, construct rooms, purchase gold and pay fees.
For instance, Sumita Ishwar Bharti from Mohan Nagar in Chinchwad received a total of ₹6.92 lakh: ₹2.80 lakh for herself, ₹2.12 lakh for her husband, and ₹2 lakh for her son. Uneducated and unsure what to do with such a large sum, she immediately asked her son to withdraw some money so that she could see for herself wha t a bundle of money looks like. Recalling her initial days in 2002 when she worked unpaid for almost nine months only to be then paid a measly ₹ 100 per day for two years, Sumita’s joy knew no bounds. “Now we have decided to stop working in this field as the smell of garbage on our bodies discriminates us from society. We plan to build a small house in our native place in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, and spend the rest of our lives there,” she said.
Similarly, Sangita Hanumanta Wadar, 30, from Nigdi Ota Scheme, received ₹1.20 lakh on behalf of her aunt, Shantabai Pradip Radkuskar, who passed away in 2016. Sangita, who has taken over her late aunt’s duties, could not control her emotions. “My aunt worked so hard her entire life, and now I am benefiting from it,” she said. As she never expected to receive any dues from 2013-2015, Sangita has decided to keep the money in a bank for her son’s education. “I don’t want our next generation to work as garbage pickers. There is no dignity in this work. We want our next generation to be educated and secure decent jobs,” she said.
It was in 2016 that KKPKP lodged a complaint with the deputy labour commissioner regarding non-payment of minimum wages to these waste pickers. According to the KKPKP, a total 310 waste pickers were deprived of their rightful wages under the Minimum Wages Act between December 2012 and May 2013 and again between June 2013 and June 2015. The combined dues from both periods amounted to around ₹3.43 crore. KKPKP took legal action to seek justice for the waste pickers, and after a long battle, in August 2023, the deputy labour commissioner ordered the PCMC to pay the remaining dues with penalties.
Even as KKPKP supported these waste pickers, they had to face threats and attempts at bribery from contractors. Waste pickers like Surekha had to hide their identities to attend court proceedings. Recalling the nightmare, Surekha said, “At that time, it was difficult to attend court proceedings. If any of us were spotted in the court area, the contractors would take action against us the next day. Hence, I used to cover my face with my sari pallu and attend court. A job was our primary need for the bread and butter of our families, but we were also fighting for our rights. We could not afford to lose either.”
PCMC commissioner Shekhar Singh said that waste pickers and many others are now receiving payments according to the Minimum Wages Act, with regular revisions. “This entire city thrives on the dedication of waste pickers who work tirelessly. We recognised the futility of prolonged legal battles and were determined to settle their rightful dues,” Singh said. He gave an assurance that most of the dues for the period from 2013 to 2015 have been cleared, and promised to look into complaints.
Meanwhile for Surekha, Sumita, Sangita and others like them, it’s not just the repayment of their dues but also an acknowledgement of their hard work. Moreover, the money has provided them with the means to try and improve their living conditions and dream of a better future for their children.
Over 100 waste pickers await payment of dues
While 310 waste pickers have received their dues for the period between 2013 and 2015 by dint of being members of KKPKP, more than 100 waste pickers from Pimpri-Chinchwad have not been as fortunate as their co-workers and are still waiting to receive their dues from the PCMC. Without the support of an organisation like KKPKP, these individuals are feeling helpless in their long battle against contractors and the civic body.
A case in point is Janabai Sitaram Wadmare from Kalewadi, who is in her 50s and has worked as a waste picker for the past 20 years. Janabai asked her co-workers who have got their dues as to when she could expect them. “I lost my college-going grandson in March 2023. He slipped and fell on his head while taking a bath. We spent ₹5 to ₹7 lakh on his operation and medical treatment, but unfortunately, he died in a private hospital,” she said.
Having raised all that money from relatives and by borrowing at high interest rates from private lenders, Janabai is worried how she will repay the loans. “I heard that many waste pickers received money from the government. I am also waiting for it so that I can repay my loans and relieve myself from this burden,” she said.
A desperate Janabai visits the Kalewadi bank branch every day to check whether or not she has received the money. Bank officials have told her that she will receive a message (if and) when the money is deposited. Her son’s mobile number is registered with her bank account so she calls him three times a day to ask if he has received any message from the bank.
A similar situation faces Shanta Bantode, 35, from the Gandhinagar area. Her aunt, Anandi Shinde, worked as a waste picker with the PCMC since 2005 and died in 2019. Shanta now meets co-workers who have received their dues to understand what she can do to get her money. She has also approached the KKPKP for help. “I came to know that many waste picker women are getting old payments. My aunt worked as a waste picker from 2005 to 2019. We have all the documents and identity cards of my aunt and are ready to submit them to the PCMC,” she said.
Janabai and Shanta are among over 100 waste pickers who are not members of KKPKP but have worked as waste pickers in Pimpri-Chinchwad from 2013 to 2015 and are struggling to get their dues. They lack the knowledge and organisational support needed to navigate the long and complex legal process.
Shailaja Aralkar, a social activist from KKPKP, acknowledged the problem. “Yes, it is true that we have fought for our members only, and many waste pickers outside our union have been denied their right to minimum wages. As of now, 25 to 50 such workers have approached us after this case seeking our help to get their payments,” she said.
The process is not easy. “We have to collect all their (waste pickers’) attendance records using the Right to Information Act (RTI), calculate the difference, and then present in court. Now, KKPKP has decided to make a list of such workers, verify their claims, and seek legal opinion on what we can do in this case,” Aralkar said.
According to PCMC officials, more than 600 workers were working as waste pickers in the twin city with different contractors between 2013 and 2015. Since 2015, all of them have been receiving a salary of ₹21,000 as per the Minimum Wages Act. Ganesh Deshpande, deputy officer of health at the PCMC, said, “These workers were associated with various contractors in the said period. They were not our full-time workers, hence were not under the Minimum Wages Act. The contract mentioned that they could earn money by selling part of the garbage.”
Whereas advocate R B Sharmale, who fought the case on behalf of the waste pickers, claimed that only 300 out of 3,000 workers received the wage difference. Many workers did not know that they were underpaid as most were uneducated. According to Sharmale, identifying these segregated workers is now a difficult task as many of them have died or left work.
The struggle for fair wages continues for these waste pickers, highlighting the need for broader support and awareness to ensure justice for all workers.
