Chintan -both directly and with the leadership of waste recyclers at the ground- has been organizing against a group of private waste contractors in Ghaziabad, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The contractors have been asking the wastepickers to pay between Rs. 400 to 1000 per month to them, if they hope to work in the area. Those who refused to pay were beaten, their carts taken away and threatened. Chintan and some wastepickers began to register cases against the beating, even of women, and extortion, leading to the arrest of a few of the contractor's men. We later discovered that the waste contractors were simply political henchmen who had taken up this contract as a way to make additional money.
Some rungs in the police were also hostile to the wastepickers and produced a document that claimed that the contractors had the right to demand the money from the wastepickers. When Chintan met the Municipal Commissioner and asked him about this document, he was shocked to read the document and upon our insistence (and feared nuisance value), rescinded it. It seems a junior functionary sent it to help the contractors. The contractors' original contract, on the contrary, mentioned that the wastepickers of the area were to be mainstreamed, helped to open bank accounts, access social security etc. It did not mention taking money from them.
Currently, the contractor has moved the High Court against 2 wastepicker leaders and a Chintan staff member. His allegations are that we were causing him harm and loss through our false allegations. He appealed for our police cases to be quashed. Additionally, he has filed information that shows clearly that the police has helped him fudge some paperwork. His people have also announced that Chintan's team and the local wastepicker leaders will all go to jail for lodging a false complaint. Should we not win the next hearing on the 10th of April, then this is a very real possibility. Of course, I am working with a good lawyer.
It seems ironic that the urban poor, fighting against a thoroughly corrupt system, in an Indian state ruled by a Dalit *, may end up in jail for seeking justice.
Bharati Chaturvedi
*Dalit is a self-designation for a South Asian group of people traditionally regarded as untouchables (outcastes) or of low caste.
Some rungs in the police were also hostile to the wastepickers and produced a document that claimed that the contractors had the right to demand the money from the wastepickers. When Chintan met the Municipal Commissioner and asked him about this document, he was shocked to read the document and upon our insistence (and feared nuisance value), rescinded it. It seems a junior functionary sent it to help the contractors. The contractors' original contract, on the contrary, mentioned that the wastepickers of the area were to be mainstreamed, helped to open bank accounts, access social security etc. It did not mention taking money from them.
Currently, the contractor has moved the High Court against 2 wastepicker leaders and a Chintan staff member. His allegations are that we were causing him harm and loss through our false allegations. He appealed for our police cases to be quashed. Additionally, he has filed information that shows clearly that the police has helped him fudge some paperwork. His people have also announced that Chintan's team and the local wastepicker leaders will all go to jail for lodging a false complaint. Should we not win the next hearing on the 10th of April, then this is a very real possibility. Of course, I am working with a good lawyer.
It seems ironic that the urban poor, fighting against a thoroughly corrupt system, in an Indian state ruled by a Dalit *, may end up in jail for seeking justice.
Bharati Chaturvedi
*Dalit is a self-designation for a South Asian group of people traditionally regarded as untouchables (outcastes) or of low caste.
