Third-generation rubbish picker Krishna has persistently mobilized his community in defense of their rights and self-respect.
As an entrepreneur, he gives informal waste pickers a job and optimism while continuously searching for new and creative approaches to waste management.
Krishna’s journey from living off of trash to make ends meet to now being a successful waste business with 15 employees is quite remarkable.
In pursuit of a better life, his ancestors relocated to Bengaluru from Kallakurichi in Tamil Nadu more than eight decades ago.
The traditional bone pickers in the city joined an unofficial waste-picking group in a work that did not provide them with a steady income, much less respect or dignity.
Throughout our conversation, Krishna’s eyes well up with tears as he describes his traumatic experience as a third-generation waste picker.
He claims that over 4.25 lakh waste pickers work in Karnataka, and that 25,000 families in Bengaluru rely solely on dry waste collection. Krishna has tirelessly mobilized his community in the city and the state, fighting for their rights and dignity in an effort to end the cycle of discrimination that exists between generations.
Defending rights and dignity
Beyond his own achievements, Krishna is a strong advocate for climate change through creative waste management, providing a strong voice for his community’s struggle for rights and dignity.
After seventh grade, a classmate informed everyone that I was from the waste picker neighborhood, forcing me to leave school. They asked me to sit on the last bench and treated me like an outsider.
I chose not to return because I felt embarrassed,” he tells SocialStory. Krishna and his mother walked 6-7 miles each day while carrying large sacks on their heads as they picked up trash from JC Road all the way to Majestic in Bengaluru.
However, their bodily burden was less than the weight on their souls. They were referred known as chappar, which means “a person carrying stolen goods on the shoulder,” but in reality, they were protecting the environment by keeping a lot of rubbish out of landfills.
Krishna also highlights how disrespectful society is. We already belonged to a lower caste. We were treated far worse than that. There were no amenities, no respect for our labor, and no dignity.
We barely made enough money to get by on Rs 40–50 a day. People still don’t realize that we assist fight climate change and give new life to things you’ve thrown away.
Krishna frequently considered leaving the community and finding another employment because he was upset, discouraged, and outraged at the way he was treated.
“I frequently considered becoming an office boy or a cab driver. Although my life would have been altered, what about my community? At the age of 18, he came to this realization, which led him to push for change.
He started organizing the rubbish pickers in order to bring them together around a shared objective: improving their lives and giving their labor respect and dignity.
Krishna was led to the correct path by meeting Anselm Rosario, the founder of trash Wise Trust, a company that offers trash management solutions.
At the age of 21, Krishna went to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to join a sizable assembly of rubbish pickers.
He realized then that waste pickers around the nation were pushing for change and that this was not an isolated issue. Another significant event occurred eleven years ago with the founding of Hasiru Dala, a social impact organization devoted to ensuring justice for rubbish pickers.
“We participated in choosing the name and logo. Every morning around four in the morning, I would go up and get the waste pickers’ names and information,” recalls Krishna.
Together with the NGO, the first dry waste collection center was established in Domlur Ward 112 in 2011 on government-provided land and a building.
However, the difficulties had only just started. Only 20 to 30 kg of waste arrived for the first six months, despite the plan to deposit waste at the center for sorting and segregation.
The dry trash collection center’s staff, under the direction of Krishna, made the decision to begin door-to-door collection in 2012.
It provided free dry garbage collection services to 3,000 families.
When Krishna presented the findings to the Greater Bengaluru municipal government, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), they agreed that his strategy was a solid one to follow.
The dry trash collection center’s staff, under the direction of Krishna, made the decision to begin door-to-door collection in 2012.
It provided free dry garbage collection services to 3,000 families.
When Krishna presented the findings to the Greater Bengaluru municipal government, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), they agreed that his strategy was a solid one to follow.
