Thiruvanthapuram: The Suchitwa Mission has deviated from its earlier plan to provide ID cards to scrap workers, and will give them only to scrap merchants. The reason cited is that since a large number of scrap workers come from other states, it would be difficult to ascertain whether or not they are involved in criminal activities. The idea of scrap workers' ID was originally proposed by K. Vasuki, the then Suchitwa Mission executive director, to tap into the vast network of scrap workers for solid waste management.
An official said that the ID card will be given to scrap merchants as they will have address proof for their scrap storage space. The card will be useless for a scrap merchant, says Mohammad Asif, secretary, Kerala Scrap Merchants Association (KSMA). "A worker on the other hand can use it as they are the ones working on the ground," he says. If the state is engaging them in any way, it has to be made formal, says activist J. Sandhya. "There has to be a formal means of employing them. If not, it will be exploitation. Problems like uncertainty about their background can be overcome through police verification," she says.
Suchitwa Mission executive director Ajayakumar Varma told DC that he was not aware of the scrap workers' ID project. Haritha Keralam Mission vice-chairperson T. N. Seema said that she was not aware of ID cards being given only to the retailers. "The ID card project is beneficial to the state and the workers alike. They have been complaining about police harassment and no health insurance, while the state has been in need of a protocol regularizing their work so that discards don't end up in street. The ID cards can help both parties," she said.
