Case Study

FACTS

1. Vejalpur is an urban conglomerate which falls outside the limits of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. It has a population of 1.5 lac with 41,578 households and around 1700 societies.

2. Vejalpur Nagar Palika was the first Nagarpalika to successfully implement the e-governance of the solid waste management project in compliance with the MSW management rules (2000) with the help of Nagarpalika members and the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) .

3. Vejalpur Nagarpalika recieved the 2005-06 ICON awards for its e-governance initiatives

4. Kishore Bhai Chauhan, the then President of the Nagarpalika, studied the existing waste disposal systems and practices followed in other cities like Banglore and Trichur. He collaborated with other experts in the field to come up with a feasible waste management system which did not only cut costs but also provided good employment oppurtunities to the labour class.

5. Vejalpur Nagarpalika roped in the ragpicking members of SEWA and signed an annual agreement with the SEWA co-operative for assuring employment to these members at a reasonable wage rate.

6. As of 2000, every ragpicker could earn Rs.2250-2500 per month which included salary of Rs. 1250-1500 and additional Rs. 1000 by selling the dry waste. Each ragpicker had to cover approzimately 125-150 households every day by working only 2.5 hours a day. Residents had to pay as less as Rs. 7.5 per month as wages.

7. Members with minimum educational qualifications were employed to monitor the attendance of the rag pickers and work quality at a salary of Rs. 2500-3000 per month.

8. The members were governed by strict rules like:

* Clean, personal hygiene

* Mandatory to greet residents with salutations like 'Jai Shree Krishna'

* Punctuality in terms of pick up time to facilitate convenience to households

9. Advantages to the Palika & SEWA members:

* Fixed, timely Income.

* Reduced work hours ie. 3 hours. So, the...