Pune: Waste Pickers Urge PMC That They Be Insured For Their Life And Disabilit
Pune, 7th July 2021: Waste pickers and representatives of Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat met the Additional Commissioner Kunal Khemnar on 7th July 2021 to reiterate their long pending demands of life and disability insurance for waste pickers.
PMC paid the premiums for insuring waste pickers under Aam Admi Bima Yojana until 2017, when the scheme was discontinued by the government. Subsequently, the government introduced Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyot Beema Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana but so far the waste pickers have been deprived of life and disability despite working through the pandemic.
According to the verification done by the Solid Waste Management department of PMC in 2020, 4265 waste are eligible under the PMJJBY and 6271 under the PMSBY. “The PMC must reimburse the waste pickers for the annual premium of Rs. 330 under PMJJBY and Rs. 12 under PMSBY via the DBT portal of Social Development Department. 1487 waste pickers in the age group of 51-60 will need to be insured under the Group micro-insurance scheme of LIC that has an annual premium of Rs.800 so that no waste picker is excluded from the insurance cover” demanded Poornima Chikarmane of KKPKP.
Khemnar urged the SWM department and KKPKP to put up a proposal and assured that he would suggest the Commissioner to issue a letter of acceptance to implement this process. “We have been waiting for over three years with the hope that the PMC will pay heed to our sincere demands and we look forward to a speedy approval, we protect the city’s health and that the PMC will protect ours is a very rightful demand” said Deepali Javir, a waste collector from Patil Estate. The decision to take forward the proposal is a welcome move by the PMC and once approved, will go a long way in protecting the interests of waste pickers.
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