Ragpickers part of Swachh mission: Guntur Municipal Corporation

GUNTUR: The Guntur Municipal Corporation has decided to use the services of ragpickers to transform Guntur into a clean and green city. The GMC officials held a meeting with ragpickers in Guntur on Wednesday. GMC additional commissioner K. Ramachandra Reddy said the services of rag pickers would be used to collect and segregate waste. They would be paid monthly wages and other benefits as per the norms, he said.

Ragpickers, led by Dalit Bahujan Resource Centre (DBRC), attended the meeting. The DBRC detailed the life of ragpickers and their problems through a short documentary film, to the GMC officials and urged them to improve their standards, if possible. Mr Ramachandra Reddy lamented that the public do not treat ragpickers properly though they play an important role in keeping the towns and cities clean. He said that the Union and state governments have decided to use the services of ragpickers in the Swachh Sarvekshan programme. They would be deployed at various areas in Guntur city.

Mr Reddy urged the DBRC and ragpickers to join hands with GMC in making Guntur clean. GMC medical health officer Dr Sobha Rani said the GMC will conduct medical camps for ragpickers at the areas where they live and that they would be also offered education through evening/night schools. She asked the ragpickers to get their names registered with the GMC. DBRC coordinator Anil explained about the health, education and living conditions of ragpickers to the officials.