Pune Waste Pickers’ Livelihoods Hit as PMC’s ‘Vishwas 2025’ Campaign Brings Sudden Changes

Viman Nagar, 10th August 2025: The Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) newly launched Vishwas 2025 cleanliness campaign has sparked controversy in Viman Nagar, where waste pickers allege their livelihoods have been abruptly taken away without prior notice.

For the past seven years, Bhikaji Londhe, a waste picker affiliated with Swachh, had been collecting segregated wet and dry waste from around 150 households in Rajiv Nagar South. Londhe earned between ₹25,000–30,000 per month, a dignified livelihood that supported his family, children’s education, and medical expenses for his ailing mother.

However, starting September 1, PMC’s new waste collection vans began operating in his area, and citizens were instructed to hand over waste only to these vehicles. Some residents even told Londhe they had been warned of fines if they continued giving waste to waste pickers. As a result, his daily work has come to a standstill.

On September 5, a meeting was held between Municipal Commissioner and veteran labour leader Dr. Baba Adhav, where PMC officials reportedly assured that waste pickers would be integrated into the new system. But in practice, waste pickers allege they have been excluded, with their work directly replaced by the vans.

PMC’s official platform PMC Care also shared information about including waste pickers in the system. Yet in Viman Nagar, feeder vans were abruptly stopped and replaced with new collection vehicles, cutting waste pickers off from their source of income.

“I have been doing this work for seven years. My mother raised me through waste picking, and now my own children’s schooling depends on this income. With my work stopped in a single day, how am I supposed to survive?” Londhe asked.

He said he earned ₹15,000 directly from households for door-to-door collection, along with ₹7,000–10,000 from recycling dry waste. “I took a loan of ₹2 lakh to build a house, and my monthly installment is ₹8,000. On top of that, I spend ₹3,000 monthly for my mother’s treatment and cover my two children’s education costs. Now, I return home every day with an empty cart,” he added.

According to Rani Shivsharan, board member of Swachh, Londhe’s case is just the beginning. “Today, Bhikaji’s livelihood has been snatched away. Tomorrow, 4,000 waste pickers across the city may face the same fate. How can cleanliness be just if it excludes those who built this system?” she asked.

Swachh and waste picker representatives have appealed to PMC to honour its assurances, stop displacing waste pickers, and provide them fair inclusion in the new waste management model.