Core Activities

Sajag Society’s method of working is threefold; directly with people, facilitation with government and networking for wider policy issues. It works on all development and livelihood related issues to ensure a life of dignity to the waste pickers of the city of Delhi. Some of the activities undertaken are detailed below:

Education: The children of wealthy families study in good quality private schools, get good education and skills and go on to rise above their parents. The children of poor families, on the other hand, have to work with their parents to support themselves; why would they bother going to school anyway, for there are hardly any schools that are willing to impart quality education to them.

Education is a fundamental right of all children and very important for their overall development. Realising its importance, our organisation, since its inception, is working on this issue. A series of activities are being carried out in this regard such as conducting awareness drives to propagate the importance of education among workers, motivating parents to enroll their children in near by schools, approaching school authorities to admit those children as well as to address their problems etc. More specifically:

Admissions in private schools: In Delhi, prior to the Right to Education Act, 394 private schools which had got land from the government departments such as DDA & Land Development Authority at very minimal rates were subjected to the condition that they will reserve 20 to 25 percent seats for the children belonging to economically weaker sections of the society.

As soon as we heard about this provision, our society swung into action and started working to make this provision effective. Initially, the workers did not trust that their wards can also learn in famous private schools with children from rich families. Though, since inception we faced problem of lack of documents among workers. However, some of them came forward and took charge of things with the organisation’s volunteers. After long drawn struggles including court cases, Right to Information applications, and several rounds of discussion with parents and school authorities alike, some children were successful in getting admissions in 2007-2008. Seeing this, many parents from the slums started taking advantage of provision and many of them got their wards admitted to these schools in the next session 2008-2009. In 2 years, with our efforts children got admitted and were studying without facing any discrimination in various schools like – Ryan International school (Vasant Kunj), Bloom public school (Vasant Kunj), Vasant Valley School (Vasant Kunj), D.P.S Vasant Kunj, Heritage School (Vasant Kunj), D.A.V Vasant Kunj, D.A.V Vasant Vihar, Chinmaya Vidyalaya (Vasant vihar), Upraas Vidyalaya (Vasant Vihar), Green Fields (Safdarjung Enclave), Hill groove (Safdarjung Enclave), St. Marry ( Safdarjung Enclave), D.P.S Dwarka, Pragati Public school (Dwarka), Basava International School (Dwarka), Venkateshwar International school ( Sec-10 Dwarka), Venkateshwar International school ( Sec-18 Dwarka), Maxford Public School (Dwarka) etc. After nearly 5 years of experience, we can say that it has been a challenging journey but looking at the happiness of the parents we always found motivation to work further.

The passage of the Right to Education Act, 2009, has made this work all the more relevant. The government, by passing this legislation, has passed on the responsibility of providing quality education to the poor, to the private schools. It is of utmost urgency to ensure that deserving children from poor families are not left out because of societal factors (unwilling school administrations, lack of interest of parents, lack of accessories such as uniforms, books etc.). When children from poor households and communities are left behind and not given access to adequate and quality health and education, it serves to perpetuate poverty and accentuates inequality in society. An important step towards creating a harmonious society is to ensure our children have the opportunity to dream and reach wherever they wish. To keep them in school and provide after school support, several NGO’s have started evening classes like in Chinmaya and Tagore school. Sajag Society made parents and children aware of this.
Till date, Sajag Society has helped nearly 600 children from poor families to get admitted, study and sustain themselves at good private schools.

Admission into Government schools: Prior to the Right to Education Act, government schools used to operate on their whim and fancy without any accountability. Sajag Society worked hard to admit the children of ragpickers into government schools. In 2007, the same process was followed. Parents were motivated to send their children to school. The MCD primary school in Kapasera village, New Delhi was approached for admission of the children. However, at this stage the issue of improper documentation came up. For admission, the children required certification of birth and prior education, both of which they had none. This certification needed to be counter signed by authorities from their native place. Sajag Society set a non formal education centre with two part time teachers. 2 batches of around 40 children each were taught basic maths and alphabets for 6-7 months.

By the next education session in April 2008 the children had the required certification from the centre and were granted admission into the MCD school. The bridge centre’s services were now no longer needed and was shut down. It had served its purpose of getting children into the formal education sector.

The children admitted through this process are now grown up with the boys in Government Boy’s Senior Secondary School and the girls in Sarvodya Kanya Vidyala (SKV).

This success of this has been replicated in other work areas like – Vikas Nagar, Kakrola More, Chandra Vihar, Nilothi Extension, Palam, Naseerpur and Pochanpur among others. Through this process, about 400 children have been admitted into government schools and about 50% of them are still in school.

c. Certification: Government schools provide scholarships to SC/ST and minority students. However caste certificates from native places were required for this which were near impossible to come by. Sajag Society petitioned the MCD education director to modify this provision. As a result of their efforts, in the next budget (late 2010), the Delhi Government announced that caste certificates from anywhere in the country will be accepted for admission into Delhi schools. This revised provision was publicized in the areas that Sajag Society worked in and several students could avail to the benefits. Till Class 5, a scholarship of Rs. 1000 per annum is given and for classes 6 to 8, Rs. 1800 per annum is provided.

Formation of E.W.S. Parent’s Association: Following from the above activities, the Society felt it was important to form an association of parents of children attending private and government schools. The needs for cross learning and support are obvious. There are often daunting financial expenses and lack of understanding of the institutional procedures that the parents face. Working together helps share information quicker. It also helps them to support their children better in their education. This also enables them to put up a united stand where required against unfavourable changes on the part of the schools. One of the issues taken up by the Parents Association was that of uniforms and books. Although the Delhi Government has ordered that books and uniforms for EWS children are free of cost, several schools were charging for it. The parents took this issue up with school and local authorities.

Our organisation has not limited itself till the admission process but keep close monitoring on progress of children particularly in education. The Society has come forward to help these children in various other problems, like suggesting solutions to parents when they have any problems in studying, talking to school authorities for the same, submitting complaints to education officer if no solution is found out for the same, and even finding tutors for these children etc. We are determined to take this initiative to greater heights.

Citizenship: – Imagine how it would be like to be living in a society and contributing to it for years and the society does not recognize you as it’s citizen.

Every day, nearly 5 million people are moving from villages to cities in India, in search of work and a better life. Agriculture is not able to sustain the number of people it used and the surplus labour has no option left but distress migration. However, cities are ill prepared to take the burgeoning numbers of migrants. While many of them find employment as informal sector workers in construction, scrap trade and manufacturing industries, they are hardly given rights as citizens of the city. Thus, even though they contribute towards the city’s economic development, productivity and output, they are not recognized as citizens. In fact, many of these workers, settled in illegal or informal settlements (mostly slums), have been living for decades without any citizenship rights such as the right to vote, the right to subsidized food and rations, the right to own property etc. Waste pickers fare the worst in terms of being able to achieve any rights as they are branded as ‘outsiders’ and migrants and not easily accepted in society. As a result acquiring citizenship and voting rights is challenging.

a. Voting Rights:Sajag has been struggling to ensure that slum dwellers, particularly waste pickers, are given their rights as citizens. This started with educating people on the need for citizenship rights and the advantages for day to day living (residence and identity proof). By constant engagement with workers, filling forms for them, agitations, meetings and discussions with election commission officials, we have managed to secure voting rights for around 15 waste pickers. However, there is tremendous resistance against the efforts – from local corporators, landlords, to election commission officials themselves. Thus, we are left with no resort but to go to court and take up the matter. We will not rest till all of them are giving their right as a citizen – the right to vote, the right to a ration card, a proof of address and a proof as a worker.

After the first phase of 15, there was an online drive conducted to register people to vote. Through this around 200 people were registered. Their applications could be tracked online and their verification was done within 21 days.

The third phase was done in 2014-15, where around 2500 people were registered to Electoral Rolls of Delhi in a campaign conducted from 12^th June 2014 to 11^th July 2014. This was done in ten Assembly Constituencies in collaboration with office of Chief Electoral Officer (C.E.O.) of Delhi. In every location, 3-5 officials were present to accept applications and provide receipts. This had several positive effects on the community. Student volunteers from Delhi schools and universities helped with the paperwork during this campaign.

b. Homeless Survey:Sajag Society filed right to information applications on Delhi Governments social expenditure on ragpickers policies, list of beneficiaries and any other information on exclusion and plans of inclusion. Through this, Mission Convergence which seeks to be a bridge between people and the government linked us with one of the agencies earmarked for data collection of homeless persons. In 2010-11, Sajag Society facilitated the identification and survey of 5000 wastepickers under the homeless category. As a result of the survey, the persons identified were provided a homeless card. In its next phase, Aadhaar cards of many of them were also made.

PAN cards: Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards are widely considered as an Identity proof and are accepted to open bank accounts. The Society facilities its members in getting the PAN cards and helps them in completing all the required formalities as well as in filing the application. As a result, the Society had facilitated 400 families in getting their PAN cards.
Facilitation of Aadhaar enrollment: Sajag Society had been organizing intensive Aadhaar enrollment camps for waste pickers since 20^th February 2014 to 31^st May 2014. Around 4000 waste pickers and their dependents have already been enrolled as of 31st May 2014 . The enrollments were being done on the basis of introduction given by the 25 ‘Introducers’ identified by the Society. This is the only process to be followed; it does not require any other domicile or identity proof from Society members. This is a significant intervention by the Society in order to enable waste pickers to access basic rights such as ration/bank/vote etc. in future. The Planning Commission of India linked the Society with senior officials of the U.I.D. Authority of India. The officials helped facilitate exclusive enrollment camps for KKU members. It had enabled us to provide hundreds of waste pickers with a basic identity document which many of them did not have. This was much appreciated by the community.
It is important to note that despite the Supreme Court order that aadhaar will not be mandatory for accessing social welfare benefits, it has been made mandatory for food security entitlements. In a sense it is now the “gateway document” that is mandatory almost everywhere.

Collective Action:Unity is strength. Alone, we are prone to harassment and exploitation, together we can stand a greater chance to fight for our right.

Waste pickers contribute immensely towards cleaning up our environment by helping things get recycled. However, their contribution is rarely appreciated and their livelihoods are threatened by the invasion of waste management companies who work hand in hand with some opportunistic rent-seeking politicians. Besides housing, safe drinking water, electricity, health, education and many other basic civic facilities, the rag pickers; including a good number of women and children; are being harassed and exploited by land mafias, members of the posh colonies and the police. Although, it has generated self-employment for a huge mass population especially the migrants of different states of the country, they have been denied Identity in the Society, Dignity of Life and Right to Work.

In order to protect and improve the livelihoods of these workers, SAJAG society has formed a union named, “Kachra Kamgar Union” (KKU). The union, with around 2000 members, is a good way to organize the workers and protect their civic as well as human rights.

KKU provides a membership card to all its members, which is very helpful to prove their identity and save their dignity as well. The union, with active support from Sajag Society, is spreading awareness through regular awareness drives/ meetings on different pertinent issues such as methods of waste segregation (Wet/ Dry), importance of small savings, health & hygiene, sanitation, malnutrition, importance of education especially on girl child, human rights, citizen rights and social security of unorganized workers. The union is mobilizing & uniting waste pickers, handling cases of police harassment and their exploitation by anti social elements, encouraging them to educate their children, organizing health camps as well as contributing substantially to increase their family income. The union also actively works on the issue of alcoholism, which is rampant among slum dwellers.

Waste Management: We lack the capital but we have the skills. Instead of giving it to someone new, why not give it to us and let us do it for you.

Management of burgeoning solid wastes has become a critical issue for almostall the major cities in India. Although the responsibility of solid waste managementremains primarily with the municipal bodies, several other stakeholder groups playsignificant roles in the process.

In the Indian scenario the waste pickers, who come from highlyvulnerable social backgrounds, play a unique role. Waste pickers, scavengers or ragpickers as they are commonly called eke out a living by collecting and selling recyclablematerials out of municipal solid wastes. In the process they make a significantcontribution to the environmental management in different metropolis’ over and aboverendering a service to the local economy.Though Waste Pickers are playing vital role in solid waste management of the capital city, their causes and concerns are hardly noticed. According to estimates, the informal sector helps to recycle nearly 15% of the Municipal Solid Waste. All this would have otherwise landed up in dump yards in and around the city along with the other waste. The government, instead of rewarding them for their contribution to society and using their skills to improve waste management, adopts policies to displace these informal workers. Cities spend massive amounts of money on vehicles, contractors and incineration plants- all of which lowers the level of recycling, causes greater pollution, and snatches the livelihoods of informal waste workers.

Sajag works tirelessly along with waste pickers, the Municipality and waste generators to ensure that waste pickers are integrated into the formal waste management system. By promoting collection and recycling at the decentralized level, Sajag works to ensure that the livelihoods of waste pickers are not only secured but also enhanced while the city has a much better and environmentally friendly waste management system.

These efforts were recognized by the Department of Environment, Delhi Government. KKU and Sajag Society, in association with the Department of Environment (Govt. of Delhi) organized an intensive training campaign throughout the year 2008-2009. In all total five mega training workshops had been held in different places from which more than 2000 adult waste pickers were trained on segregation of waste into dry and wet. Each participant was provided safety gears such as a mask, a pair of gum boots, a pair of gloves and an apron. The best part of these programmes is a safety apron, with a logo of Delhi Govt Bhagidari scheme given to these rag pickers, which has given them recognition. This has generated a lot of enthusiasm and optimism in the beneficiaries and has brought an inexplicable delight on their faces.

Financial Inclusion:- We have nowhere to save our money. Banks ask for documents we do not have. If we keep it at home, it will be stolen. So it’s better to spend it as soon as we get our hands on it. In any case, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow, so its better to use the money we have today itself. As a consequence, when we need money for emergencies, we have nowhere to go but to money lenders.

Most waste pickers are unaware of the importance of small savings, so they earn and spend all their incomes and they remain depended on private money lenders all most all the times. Therefore it is necessary to educate these hard working people about the importance of small savings. Besides providing awareness, the organisation always encourages and motivates them to open their saving accounts in any of the nationalized/ Govt. Banks. Due to the organisation’s efforts approx. 350 members of the union have already opened their Saving Bank accounts with different banks such as State Bank of India, State Bank of Patiyala, State Bank of Indore, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank etc. – individual bank accounts. A feature useful for them is the ATM card. They can now deposit money in the bank in Delhi and withdraw it at their village via an ATM card thus avoiding the perils of travelling long distance with cash.

Emergency Support:- Who is there to look after us during an emergency?

The organisation always provides support to rag pickers / slum dwellers in time of emergency like fire and enforced eviction. On the 5^th March 2009, there was a fire in the Tughlakabad extension, one of the areas where Sajag works actively and a number of waste pickers reside. The organisation stepped in and successfully did the relief and rescue work for the fire victims. The fire victims had been provided ready mealfor 4 days through a community kitchen organized with the help of local rag picker/ Junk dealers. They were provided blankets/ clothes etc. by the union. There are cases requiring emergency intervention nearly everyday. Due to closely inhabited communities, lack of clearly defined property rights, alcoholism and poverty, there are a large number of cases of violence, conflict, police harassment, accidents etc. Such incidents have the potential to push poorer families further into poverty and deprivation due to the huge costs of court litigations, bribes etc. Whenever such a case arises (and that happens nearly everday) among members of the community, the organisation steps in immediately to ensure there is an amicable resolution without the poor people having to bear much cost.
After that there have unfortunately been three more fires in different areas.

On April 26, 2011, in Pochanpur, Dwarka 23, a fire took hold in a basti on rented land and 30 households burned down. The relief work done by the Society was to provide food, blankets and clothes. Cash also provided to the tune of Rs. 500 per family. Milk was given to the children. The local administration was approached to assist with the relief work. A written application with the list of victims was submitted which was verified by officials after two months. However due to transfer of concerned officials no compensation was finally given.

On 20 December 2012 in Naseerpur in Durga Park around a 100 huts burned down. This was disastrous for the families as their source of livelihood, collected recyclables were destroyed as well. Their utensils, clothes, cash and all other all belongings were destroyed. Through the appeal efforts of Sajag, funds and support were mobilized and relief material were made available from a wide variety of individuals and organisations. The area councilor was also approached and requested to contribute to the relief efforts. Goonj, the Jindal Foundation and local Resident Welfare Associations extended significant relief material. Cash, utensils, blankets and warm clothes were donated. Unfortunately, the neighbouring RWA’s took this opportunity to file a complaint on the illegal presence of the basti. This matter was taken up by the Society with the police and the landlords. Finally, the area was partially reclaimed and the rest of the residents relocated to another area.

On 25 April 2014 another fire broke out in Jai Hind Camp in Vasant Kunj in which 600 houses were burned down. Sajag Society spoke with local administration to mobilise resources. Through their District Resource Centre in South Delhi (CFAR), support was offered. Goonj again came to the rescue by sending a truck full of relief material for the families with clothes, medicines and toiletries among others.

Activities with Women groups: Women hold up half the sky, but men take away all the credit for it.

More than half of India’s population is subjected to down trodden life because of non-fulfillment of their fundamental rights. In Society, women have always been discriminated, which becomes evident within impoverished families since birth. Neither are they provided nutritious food nor are they given food enough for their diet. They are not given opportunities to educate themselves nor are they provided employment opportunities. Not only this, all the decisions related to them are made by rest of the family members. Working towards their upbringing is our duty. Keeping this is mind; we have decided to work towards women’s empowerment, and the first step towards it is financial independence. This is achieved through the creation of self help groups. These groups meet from time to time and discuss their problems with each other and also try to find solutions to their respective problems. In these meetings, women talk about their problems such as prosperity of family, health care, child education, cleanliness and its importance, domestic violence, child infanticide and more such important topics. With these groups, domestic workers living in the same basti are also attached and they try and find solutions to the problems as well. Currently, there are 10 self help groups; 5 men groups, 5 women groups and a total of 140 people with varying monthly contributions. In the Sajag, Nalanda and Women S.H.G.’s, the monthly contribution is Rs 100 and in the Ambedker, St. Ravidas & Patna S.H.G.s the amount is Rs 200.

Networking:Joining hands for a common cause.

To work for the rights of weaker section of society, our society is attached with many like-minded organisations, networks and social movements among which Alliance for Indian Waste Pickers, Ridge Bachao Andolan and Campaign for Social Security Act for unorganized sector workers are prime. The most important network is the Alliance for Indian Waste Pickers (AIW) which has been constantly bringing together, nearly 35 organisations from 23 cities in India. Other networks with which we are actively engaged is the National Alliance for Social Security (NASS), the National Campaign for Social Security of Unorganised Workers (NCSSUW), the Pension Parishad and the Hind Mazdoor Sabha.

Social Security: A social safety net protects the poor from falling hard due to exigencies. In the absence of one, there is a risk that a fall may prove fatal.

Poor people, particularly, waste pickers are engaged in extremely hazardous work leading to high risk of disease, infection and accidents. They have no assets to liquidate in case of emergencies such as illness or death. Often, an emergency situation forces them to incur debt and thus fall into a debt trap which they struggle to get out of. In view of this, Sajag has been working towards enabling the access of waste pickers and other urban poor to social security provisions such as Life Insurance, Health Insurance, Disability insurance etc. Due to the untiring efforts of the organisation, despite resistance from several quarters, in 2009,

Life Insurance Corporation: Sajag convinced and organised nearly 300 waste pickers to invest in a group life insurance policy offered by the Life Insurance Corporation of India – Jan Shree/ Aam Admi Bhima Yojna. In this the beneficiary and the government pay equal premium of Rs. 100 per year. In 2013-14, one time certificates were issued. The coverage under this scheme is Rs. 75000 in the case of accident death, Rs. 30000 in the case of natural death, Rs. 75000 for permanent disability and half that amount for partial disability.

Sajag also campaigned to the Delhi Government to include waste pickers under its social security programmes. As a result, over 4000 waste pickers have been surveyed, their details recorded and they have been provided with Identity cards by the Delhi Government giving details of their profession and residence. These waste pickers will be getting access to social security schemes such as the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) – a medical insurance scheme for poor unorganized workers.

RSBY:Sajag Society ran a successful state level campaign demanding the inclusion of waste pickers as a trade to Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (R.S.B.Y.). The Society had been raising this issue on different platforms and was working closely with the state labour department, South Delhi Municipal Corporation and the officials of the Director General Labour welfare (MOLE, Govt. of India). In the first week of May, the Society came to know that in a high level meeting commenced on 29^th April 2013, Mr. Ramakant Goswami, the then Hon’ble Minister of Labour, Govt. of NCT of Delhi had issued instructions to all the municipalities to provide updated data of waste pickers to the labour Department on that regard. After that, The Society approached the then municipal Deputy Commissioner of Najafgarh zone (Mr. S. C. Yadav) on 9^th May 2013 and formally demanded enrollment of waste pickers under the Scheme. The Society also visited his office on the 14^th& 16^th May 13 but the officer expressed his ignorance on any such instruction but assured his readiness to work on it should be an order. After that, the Society approached Sh. Rajesh Kumar (then Assistant Labour Commissioner, Govt. of NCT of Delhi) and requested him to provide a copy of the order. However at this time, there was still no formal order in writing. After consistent follow-up by the Society, the labour department issued office orders to all the municipalities along with some other government agencies on the 21^st May 2013 to provide detailed data of waste pickers and other marginalized communities. The society got the copy of that order in last week of May 2013 and submitted it to the municipality and labour department who still refused to take any action. So, the Society approached Sh. Piyush Sharma, Addl. Labour Commissioner on the 27^th May 13 at his office. The initial strategy of approaching municipalities’ for information on waste pickers was reconsidered and instead the policy of self-declaration by civil society groups was suggested. This was a significant win for the Society in its battle to secure health insurance for its members.

State level Workshop on Enrollment of Waste pickers to R.S.B.Y. – Sajag Society, in association with Nidan organized a workshop on the occasion of World Environment Day on 5^th June 2013 at SPWD, Vishnu Digambar Marg, I.T.O., New Delhi. Mr. Anand Swaroop (H.M.S.), Mr. Sameer Taware (I.L.O.), Mr. Bony (Coordinator, R.S.B.Y., Department of Labour, Govt. of NCT of Delhi), Ms. Sadaf Farooqi (NASS), Mr. Viren Lobo (Director, SPWD), Mr. Subhash Mahapatra (Odisha) and representatives from unions/civil society groups such as Chintan, AIKMM, AIKSM, Construction Workers Union and members of KKU participated the workshop. Mr. Prakash Kumar welcomed all participants and congratulated the labour department of Delhi for being the first among Indian states to announce its policy for enrollment of waste pickers as a trade to R.S.B.Y. Mr. Anand Swaroop chaired the first session of the workshop. Mr. Sameer Taware emphasized the significance of social security for unorganised workers in context of I.L.O.’s Convention 102 (1952) which states; “social security is a set of public measures to provide protection against the financial consequences of 9 risks i.e. ill health, Sickness, Work injury, Raising children, Invalidity, Death of the breadwinner, Maternity, Unemployment and Old age.” He also elaborated the I.L.O.’s relatively new concept of ‘social protection floor’. Mr. Taware expressed dissatisfaction over the anti worker attitude of the Indian policy makers and on non-ratification of the Convention. Mr. Bony explained measures taken by the Department for better implementation of R.S.B.Y. and future course of actions to reach out maximum number of unorganised workers. Ms. Sadaf expressed her concerns on implementation of the scheme by the Department particularly for the domestic workers. There was a dedicated session for the participants to interact with Mr. Bony in which he addressed the queries of the participants. It was recommended to accept data of waste pickers directly from the civil society groups rather than asking for it through municipal bodies. The Department agreed on this after which the Society started facilitating waste pickers enrollment in the R.S.B.Y.

Facilitation of waste pickers’ enrollment to R.S.B.Y. – Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna is a cashless family health insurance scheme of GOI for unorganised sector workers which provides coverage upto Rs. 30000/- per annum upto 5 members of a family. An insured person can get benefits from any of the impaneled hospitals across the country. Initially it was launched only for B.P.L. families and later extended to various trades of unorganised sectors. Due to the successful advocacy of Sajag Society, waste pickers as a trade has been included as a category by the Government of India. This has the potential to benefit 15 lacs waste pickers of the country. Both the Delhi and Central Government issues guidelines on this in May and September 2013 respectively. The policy victory took effort to translate into action on the ground as there was contention on the criteria for recognizing a waste picker. The Society organized a workshop on 5^th June 2013, through which the Society convinced the Labour Department of NCT of Delhi to take data directly from civil society organisations working with waste pickers. After that the Society developed a self-declaration format as required to fulfill the formalities according to the criteria. Since then, the Society has done two rounds of form submission. The first was a door to door campaign which concluded on 1^st January 2014. The second were facilitation camps with student volunteers which were finished in the next days and submitted by 10^th January. A total of around two thousand families (and close to ten thousand people) have been enrolled.
Facilitation to Food Security of waste pickers: Sajag Society warmly welcomed the enactment of much awaited National Food Security Act, 2013. The Act gives individual rights to subsidized food grains of 5kg per month to around 70% of its population. Delhi was one of the pioneer states in terms of implementation to the Act. The Govt. of Delhi issued guidelines immediately after enactment of the Act, in the last week of August 2013 and has been accepting application forms of Ration Cards since 1st September 2013. Making use of this opportunity, Sajag has been facilitating waste pickers in getting Ration Cards under the Act. First of all, the Society liaising with the concerned office of the Food & Supply officer, Bijwasan and collected information on procedures. By this time, Aadhaar Cards were mandatory. Even then, the Society had decided it would try its best for securing rights of its people. After that, the Society took a multidimensional approach and initiated activities such as – organizing awareness building meetings with community to spread information of rights to food security, its procedures, documentary requirements, formalities etc. and confidence building measures among the community. After this, a household exercise was conducted to help those community members who have Aadhaar cards to fill and submit application forms and receive acknowledgment slips. As a result, 250 waste pickers’ families have filed for rations cards under the Act.