Satyaprakash (light of truth)

2007/08

Ragpicking in India is an informal profession where individuals collect and recycle waste, playing a crucial but often unacknowledged role in the country's waste management. Ragpickers face numerous challenges, including poor health hazards due to unsafe working conditions, limited access to healthcare and social security, unstable earnings, and social exclusion. Efforts are being made through initiatives to address these issues, but the sector remains largely unorganised.

The sector includes rag pickers, small middlemen, transporters, larger middlemen and finally, re-processors. In terms of human resources this sector is arranged in a table top pyramid with rag pickers at the bottom of the pyramid and forming the backbone of waste collection. At the other end are middlemen, who purchase the waste from rag pickers then sell to larger middlemen who deal with specific items and materials. Above them are factories, who procure supplies through omnipresent agents.

The informal sector plays an important role because it is able to process most recyclable materials, which the council cannot. Rag pickers are generally unrecognised for their contribution to this lucrative industry. 

Location. Ahmedabad, Gujarat. India.