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Case Study of NSPL, NIDAN, Bihar Prepared by New Concept Information Systems for UNICEF, 2012

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SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION OF SANITATION WORKERS NSPL’S SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS MODEL OF URBAN WASTE MANAGEMENT

Overview Nidan SwachhDhara Pvt Ltd (NSPL) provides services in the area of urban solid waste management, integrating a core concern for workers’ empowerment into its structure and functioning. A private sector company registered in 2008, NSPL has roots in Nidan, which is an NGO set up in 1996, committed to economic and social welfare of unorganised sector workers. In particular, NSPL addresses caste-based exclusion in the urban scenario, focusing on creating a professional workforce of sanitation workers – called Safai Mitras – from amongst erstwhile rag pickers and sweepers. Through its contracts with municipal corporations and private work of collection, transportation and disposal of garbage and cleaning, NSPL provides opportunities for economic betterment, social dignity and overall development of these workers, who belong to hitherto marginalised castes. NSPL provides livelihood to 400 members of excluded groups through its different initiatives. Convergence of profit motive of the company with its larger developmental goals of social upliftment reflects in all its operations. NSPL currently operates in Patna, on a user charge basis, and in Hissar, Haryana. In Muzaffarpur city under a seven-year contract with the Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation that began in 2010. Work in 20 wards from amongst a total of 49 within Muzaffarpur city, has been awarded to NSPL.

Context and Barriers The Shadow of Caste In traditional society, rigid caste divisions define social equations and relegate low-status, poorly paid work to groups at the lowest rungs of the social hierarchy. Tasks performed by dalit (`low’ caste/ Schedule Castes) groups in Bihar such as Pasi, Dusadh, Bhuiya, Mehtar, Chaupal, Bantar, Rajwar, Ghasi, Lalbegi, Chamar and Musahar are considered unclean, and a blight on ‘civilised’ society. These include sweeping, manual scavenging, disposal of dead animals and lighting of funeral pyres.

SC Population in Bihar: Some Core Indicators

Indicator Figures Comment

Total SC population 13,048,608 15.7% of total population of state.

Total number of SC groups 23 Overwhelmingly rural. 93.3% of SCs residing in rural areas.

Overall literacy rate for SCs 28.5 % Literacy rate for SCs at the national level is 54.7%. Bihar state figure is nearly half of national level.

Male and female literacy figures for SCs

Male: 40.2% Female: 15.6%

Figures at the national level for SCs are 66.6% for male & 41.9% for female. Bihar state figures are much lower than national level.

Educational levels for SCs: Proportion of literates who have attained education up to particular levels

Primary: 28.4% Middle:13.1% Secondary/higher secondary: 15.1% Graduates/above: 3.6% Technical/non-technical

These figures indicate extremely poor access to education for SCs in Bihar at all levels. Access to training in professional skills is negligible.


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diploma holders: 0.1%

Work Participation Rate (WPR)

39.7% WPR at national level:40.4% Bihar figures marginally lower.

Source: Census of India 2001

The caste-profession link gets reconfigured in the urban social economy. Although caste divisions seem to lose their sharp edge as rural communities migrate to urban areas, their professional options remain limited due to lack of education, resources or alternative skills as well as continued social stigma. Community members tend to take up menial jobs such as sweeping, rag picking, cleaning toilets and collecting garbage. They join the ranks of unorganised labour, which keeps the wheels of urban society moving by providing the bulwark of services, at cheap rates. Construction workers, street vendors, helpers at restaurants and homes, all form part of this workforce.

Sanitation Challenges in Urban Scenario Urban centres in Bihar face several challenges. Patna, the capital, ranks among the 17 best business1 cities in India. However, as the ‘City Development Plan-JNNURM’2, 2006, for Patna Urban Agglomeration (PUA)3 and Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), shows, nearly one-fifth of the city’s population lives below poverty line (BPL), and nearly three-quarters resides in slums. Muzaffarpur, a smaller city, is strategically located with several

Industries and rich agricultural activity in the region, making it a major trading centre and appropriate to be developed as an agro-based industrial city. In both cities, slum dwellers have poor access to basic services like sewage, drainage, water supply and sanitation facilities, resulting in unhygienic conditions. Most slums depend on hand pumps for water and practice open defecation. In Patna, 52% slum dwellers practice open defecation, while 20% households are serviced by

1World Development Report. 2009. World Bank

2 Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Ministry of Urban Development, GOI

3Patna Urban Agglomeration (PUA) covers the area under Patna Municipality (PMC) as well as outlying areas

Patna Key indicators

Indicator Figure Comment

Population (PUA) 16.98 lakhs

Population (PMC) 13.66 lakhs

Population(PMC) in slums 9.80 lakhs (72%)

Population BPL(PMC) 2.5 lakhs (19%)

Literacy rate(PUA) 68.9 % Higher than literacy rate in the state of 47.53%

Total workers (PUA) 25.2%(of total population)

Lower than state figures of 33% of total population

SC (PUA) 8.8% Lower than state average of 15.7%

Source: Final Report– City Development Plan for Patna under JNNURM. 2006. Bihar Urban Development Agency. Govt of Bihar

Muzaffarpur Key Indicators

Indicator Figure Comment

Population 305,525 according to Census 2001

Rapid population growth - from 54139 in 1951 to 351607 as per 2011 provisional Census data

Population living in slums

77456 according to study conducted by Support Program for Urban Reforms (SPUR)

25.35% of total population lives in slums

BPL families living in slums

7035 (SPUR study) 9.08% of total population living in slums is in BPL category

Source: Muzaffarpur City Development Plan (2010-30) Executive Summary. Urban Development & Housing Dept. Govt of Bihar


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Main objectives of NSPL - To promote enterprises of informal economy workers for strengthening livelihood. The company will strive to develop skill, capacity and backward and forward linkages of such workers like rag pickers and sweepers so that society is benefited by better products and services, and the workers’ quality of life is improved. - To promote waste recycling by technology adoption and marketing of products. - To look out for possible and alternate uses of reusable waste and garbage, and to make useful products out of those wastes.

underground sewage systems and 80% rely on septic tanks and low-cost sanitation systems. In Muzaffarpur about 62% households have access to toilets at home and rely on septic tanks and soak pits. Maintenance of drains is mostly ‘reactive’, the common practice being to de-silt them and dump the sludge at the edge of the drains. Being in a flood prone zone, the city needs to have comprehensive drainage strategies and goals with an immediate extension of existing drainage network. It is bogged down by poor power supply, water logging and haphazard urban planning.4 Unorganised Workforce: the ‘Excluded’ in Urban Milieu Large sections of the urban poor are labourers in the informal sector, poorly paid and lacking opportunities for economic betterment. Sans the security of an organised workforce, they live and toil in conditions that deny them basic human rights or access to education, housing and healthcare. Although the caste system seems less rigid, typically there is an overlay of urban elite prejudices, with stereotypical assumptions about the `poor’, for instance they have uncouth manners, scruffy appearance, doubtful moral character and tendency towards alcoholism. Urban centres tend to retain the trappings of discriminatory mindsets, though the discrimination tends to be more subtle. The challenge of enabling sanitation workers to overcome barriers of social discrimination, economic marginalisation and lack of access to developmental processes is the crux of the transformation from exclusion to inclusion in the urban milieu.

Strategy Genesis of NSPL The fore runner of NSPL in terms of its social development objectives has been Nidan’s mandate of empowering the informal sector workers, who remain on the margins of any urban milieu. Nidan’s primary focus has been the organisation of these informal sector workers – to provide better livelihood and working conditions, open up avenues for overall development and secure their rights.

The engagement with waste pickers has been in line with Nidan’s overall mandate of working with the most marginalised urban communities. In any urban milieu, those who work as waste workers and rag pickers often come from the lowest caste hierarchy. They are confronted with poor working conditions, low and irregular income, are largely viewed as filthy and treated with suspicion by the mainstream society. The focus of Nidan’s work has been to enhance the self-worth and self-perception of the waste pickers, by enabling them to seek and establish an identity as a professional group. The involvement of Nidan in the community of waste pickers has been at multiple levels, to address their core socio-economic and their overall developmental needs. At one level, the organisation initiated the process of legal justice, through the filing and tracking of FIRs – for protecting the workers’ right to work, habitation and other rights related to different aspects of development. At another level, there has been an active engagement with rag pickers as a community, organising

4Muzaffarpur City Development Plan (2010-30), Executive Summary, Urban Development & Housing Dept.

Govt of Bihar


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them to build awareness for securing better working conditions and financial security, decent housing and appreciation of the need to educate their children for an improved quality of life. Gradually, these inputs from Nidan have led to a growing sense of self-worth amongst the rag pickers and enhanced their ability to decide what was good for them and take decisions on what livelihoods they wanted to pursue. Overall, this has fostered the setting of professional work standards, identification of developmental needs and the ability to deal with government/municipal bodies for their betterment. Through these phases of engagement with the community, Nidan has always been conscious of the need to secure an institutional base for the work of rag pickers that would enable them to benefit as a professional group, as well as in other areas of social development. This led the organisation to seek registration of this group as a Cooperative. Failing to get this formal recognition from the authorities, motivated Nidan to form a private sector company for services in urban solid waste management, in which the waste pickers themselves would be Board Members and Shareholders. The company would be primed to undertake door-to-door garbage collection services for residential and commercial units, as well as attempt to bag contracts from city municipalities for comprehensive services related to waste collection, segregation and disposal. The formation of Nidan SwachhDhara Pvt Ltd (NSPL) in 2008, registered under the Companies Registration Act 1956, was the culmination of these developments. The step has been a significant one, not only for the immediate benefit of the workers or the current contractual arrangement, but in the larger context, of creating space for community-based services in an industry that is increasingly dominated by big players such as Jindals and Reliance. . As a business model, NSPL undertakes sanitation work on a contractual and a user charge basis with households, institutions and municipalities. This model thus provides credence to Nidan’s mandate of bringing economic benefit, dignity and social acceptance to workers of the informal sector. Integrating Professional and Social Concerns NSPL incorporates the principle of profit-making with a larger concern for social upliftment. Both aspects are synergised at all levels of the company’s structure and functioning, and are integral to NSPL’s goals. This has led NSPL to advance in professional management, as well as nurturing a human network. It has been able to translate core social concerns through a professional approach to urban waste management. While at one level, the company’s focus is on generating maximum returns for the services it offers, the betterment of workers remains a priority. This overarching social concern defines its strategy and operations. At another level, it seeks to build an enabling environment for the workers, by engaging with several stakeholders in the urban milieu, to foster respect and social dignity for these excluded groups in their role as professional sanitation workers. Transforming Workers’ Identity NSPL focuses on creation of a new identity for rag pickers and sweepers as an organised workforce. Its engagement with urban sanitation workers, including Mehtar and other dalit groups, concentrates on building their professional identity and supporting them to lead a dignified life. Their transformation into dignified service providers is symbolised by usage of terms like ‘Safai Mitra’. In addition, NSPL has also tried to demolish the divide between ‘worker’ and ‘manager’ by enabling Safai Mitras to become Board Members of the Company. They can become shareholders, thus providing them a stake at the level of policy making. This duality of roles can be seen as a ‘revolutionary’ step in conventional management terms. For NSPL, however, this has been an integral part of the social transformation of the unorganised workforce that it seeks through the business model. According to Arbind Singh, Executive Director, Nidan, “The organisational focus on building worker identity is a departure from the more conventional form of labour movement


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“The present PPP model is rooted in the Nagar Palika Adhiniyam 2001 (Act) passed by the state government. The decline in efficiency of the Nagar Nigam led to a policy to stop new recruitment of sanitation workers. Simultaneously, to outsource some part of the Nigam’s work through inviting tenders. The contract with NSPL was a result of this. We will continue to encourage such ventures.” Nisaruddin, Deputy Mayor, Muzaffarpur

Making Wealth out of Waste Every morning Shanti Devi, 55, completes her household chores and sets out with a large bag to scour MotiJheel, Kalyani and Mithanpura, around her slum, Purani Gali, Muzaffarpur. She visits homes to collect dry garbage such as plastic, paper, tin, iron, copper and aluminum. Speaking with a sense authority, as a person who knows the trade well, Shanti says, “These fetch a good price at the Kabadi market, especially iron.” Earlier, Shanti had very little cash at hand and could not buy much at one go. Her business remained limited, being dependent on daily generation of cash.

Things changed rather dramatically when she linked with ‘Sanchay’ a self-financing scheme promoted by Nidan. She took a loan that helped her source larger volumes of garbage. Being experienced, she could gauge the market and source the right materials to maximise sales. Newly acquired financial strength through Sanchay gave her business a much-needed shot in the arm! “I used to earn INR 50-60 a day and that too was not regular. Now I make a profit of INR 4,000 a month,” she says with a broad smile.

This is the spirit that drives NSPL. To take one example, it established a company-run, ‘Kabadi Centre’ during its contract with the Patna municipality. This Centre became a vibrant sales point where waste pickers were assured of a good price for the material they collected. This is a win-win situation, for the waste pickers as well as the company.

In Muzaffarpur, NSPL is keen to replicate this enterprise. It has also been pushing for land from the government, to set up a recycling plant. If that happens, it can collect household waste that separates the organic from the dry items.

through unionisation. Yet in principle there is a commonality, as both seek to create a framework of service conditions for the protection of workers’ rights. The purpose for which workers unions are formed, is itself incorporated into NSPL’s corporate goals, thus marking an innovation in securing benefits for the workforce.” PPP Model: Critical Partnership with Municipalities Opportunities in solid waste management at scale are accessed on the basis of NSPL’s partnership with city municipalities. The linkage with government bodies provides opportunities to work at scale, which is necessary to build company profile in the market and the sector. A crucial aspect of NSPL’s strategy is to expand and build on such linkages and bid for new contracts through the public-private-partnership (PPP) model. Within the sector of waste management, the community-based services grounded in social development goals of the NSPL model, has to compete with bigger players such as Reliance and Jindals, to bag contracts from the city’s civic bodies. In this sense, NSPL both symbolises and upholds the interests of excluded groups through its focus on securing a space in the commercial and civic institutions in the urban milieu. Zero Waste Management NSPL’s strategic plan hinges on the contractual arrangement with municipal corporations. This constitutes a prime revenue generating activity related to waste collection and disposal. The approach is in line with its commitment to the principle of Zero Waste Management that essentially means that the volume and variety of waste generated by the city/urban area, is diverted into specific activities linked to revenue generation as well as livelihood opportunities. In this way, it is able to maximise the value of its operations while expanding the skill base of sanitation workers.


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This leads to the strengthening of workers’ professional profile, which contributes to their overall development and empowerment.

Processes Creating an Efficient Business Model for Solid Waste Management NSPL has worked systematically to create an efficient business model for solid waste management, with inbuilt responsiveness to the customer. Its customer base includes the following. Contracts with City Municipalities NSPL was awarded a contract by the Patna Municipal Corporation from 2005 to 2011. While this accorded a measure of recognition of NSPL’s services from the city’s civic administration, it did not constitute the sole source of revenue generation from operations. Other revenue streams were integrated with this core activity, leading to profits as well as expansion of the company’s skill and technological base. This included door to door garbage collection, segregation of waste between degradable waste that includes kitchen waste and non-degradable such as plastic, metal and paper. These items, find their way into the ‘kabadi’ market for recyclable items that is a source of revenue for several waste pickers. The organic waste is diverted into another revenue generation stream through vermi composting. Though this has not been taken up on a large scale, but the potential for opening markets for organic manure has been demonstrated. In Muzaffarpur, NSPL has been awarded a contract from the year 2010 for a period of seven years, by the city municipal corporation (Nagar Nigam), to undertake the work of garbage collection, sweeping of streets and cleaning of drains and nallahs, in 18 wards out of a total of 49 wards in the city. Recently, two more wards have been awarded to NSPL. The main revenue is being generated through payment by the Nigam based on the tonnage of garbage collected. Based on the state government’s policy to encourage public private partnership, NSPL is primed to bag contracts with municipalities, for undertaking sanitation work in specific wards/areas. Housekeeping Contracts Shopping complexes, housing societies and commercial buildings require services for cleaning of premises and garbage disposal. NSPL undertakes these on a user charge basis. Building Parity in Core Operations NSPL has approached solid waste management through a clearly-defined operational structure that seeks to draw upon the existing skill set of rag pickers and sanitation workers, and reconfigure it within a professional framework. The entire operation is a closely coordinated effort between different rungs of workers, supervisory and managerial team. At the helm of operations is the Project Manager, guiding other managers, to ensure that the workers meet quality requirements as well as quantity targets on a daily basis. NSPL believes sanitation work requires skill and expertise, which these workers already have. This needs to be respected and nurtured foremost. The initial training builds on this, while imparting techniques to bring them at par with modern, systematic processes of waste management. A continuous process of identifying, orienting and hand-holding the Safai Mitras characterises each stage of the actual waste management process. The entire sanitation operations in Muzaffarpur involve the services of 400 Safai Mitras. For the entire staff, there is an eight-hour working day, six days a week. A salary structure is in place for different categories of workers and managers. At the initial phase of the intervention, disbursement was made in cash, but over time, this has been replaced by a system of salary deposits


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“My day begins at 6 a.m. I walk around the lanes with my trolley and blow my whistle. I collect garbage in plastic bags from 100 households. NSPL has provided this trolley for collection and the whistle for announcing my movements. I don’t need to go upstairs, as they drop the bags from 2nd or 3rd floors into a bucket. People in this neighbourhood treat me with respect.“ Lal Dev Ram, garbage collector, Dhobia Gali, Muzaffarpur

“The Safai Mitras come from a very difficult background, yet they know their work so well, are sincere and hardworking. At NSPL, we respect them for their labour. We have cultivated a human bonding between all our staff. Supervisors, managers and area-in-charge have been sensitised to this. In this aspect, NSPL is different from a typical corporate.” Pramod Kumar Singh, Manager, NSPL, Muzaffarpur

in bank accounts. This is also a reflection of NSPL’s move for transparency and parity in financial transactions to build healthy inclusive practices in operations. Daily operations are based on duties performed by the Safai Mitras in allotted wards and streets. The supervisory staff maintains close watch on the work, as well as keeps a constant direct link with each Safai Mitra in their specific wards. One of their key tasks is to liaise with residents to ensure quality of work meets the expected standards. The ward-in-charge, sometimes the circle-in-charge and other managers, carry out spot checks during which they also establish direct contact. NSPL makes every effort to build an environment in which all problems– technical, professional or human – are addressed respectfully and with mutual understanding. This kind of interaction leads to a sense of appreciation and loyalty amongst the workforce. This in turn translates into a high degree of professional integrity and competence at all levels.

NSPL’s focus is clearly on building skills and services, improving the service conditions and addressing development concerns of waste pickers. This implies engagement with largely men who constitute the workforce. Women have benefitted by the intervention, indirectly, more by default, because of reduced incidences of alcoholic bouts and domestic violence by their men folk, seen to be a result of their increased participation in institutional mechanisms, and better and more secure service conditions. Integration of women, however, is being attempted by providing them opportunities in tasks such as street sweeping, but these remain as benefits that arise in the course of NSPL’s regular work, rather than an exclusive concern with women workers.

Reorganising Waste Management NSPL is a socially responsible business model, which undertakes specific assignments in city sanitation work, and provides garbage collection, segregation and disposal services to a variety of consumers. Under Zero Waste Management, various activities are undertaken at different stages of collection, segregation and disposal of waste. These include: Door to door garbage collection: This is a service provided to households, restaurants and shops in the area of operation for a monthly fee. Vermi-compost techniques: Kitchen waste is converted to organic manure through specific technologies. The manure is branded and supplied to market chains. Recycling of dry waste: Dry waste materials like plastic, paper, iron, copper and aluminium have high values in the recycled goods market. This is true at local, regional and national levels. However, the rag picker typically does not have access to prevalent market prices that are appropriated by middle-men in the business. To circumvent the role of middlemen, and boost the company’s profit, NSPL has established company shops for sale and purchase of such material. Inclusion: Human Bonding through a Professional Network NSPL incorporates the principle of profit-making with a larger concern for social upliftment. Both aspects are synergised at all levels of the company’s structure and functioning, and are integral to the company’s overall business and developmental goals. An emphasis on creating a seamless bond between workers and the company is apparent at the policy level, with Safai Mitras being on the board of NSPL, as well as holding


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“The revenue collection of Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation does not reflect the rising value of the city area. This coupled with population increase, means we have to service larger numbers with a shrinking income. Amongst our workforce of 600, around 100 are due to retire. We will not be taking new recruits, nor do we have the latest equipment in waste management. In such a scenario, it is useful to have NSPL’s expertise in the field. Based on their good work, their number of wards was increased from 9 to 18. This works well for us.” Rajesh Kumar Jha, Nagar Prabandhak, Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation

shares of the company. At the operational level too, this philosophy finds resonance. Underlying the daily operational processes is the core concern of development of Safai Mitras. While NSPL does not focus on the caste profile of workers, it addresses the causes of exclusion through building a professional network that lends itself equally and effectively to social and developmental concerns. This approach is manifest in the careful inculcation of social attitudes that are sensitive to the situation and needs of Safai Mitras. The company leverages its professional network to empower the workforce in key aspects of their development. Enabling and encouraging workers to send their children to school, mostly first generation learners, is a fundamental part of company policy. Another key aspect is the move towards financial inclusion. The setting up of bank accounts, often for first-time users, thrift societies, SHGs and linkage with banks for group loans; are integral in the move to empower the Safai Mitras. These dimensions are opened up through other programmes run by Nidan, related to slum development and micro-finance. The conscious, constant and concerted effort to bond at a human level helps build a supportive environment for good professional practices as well as a base for social development. A sense of mutual respect and camaraderie marks human and professional interactions at NSPL, extending beyond strict parameters of work; there is social and cultural intermingling between different rungs of employees, and mutual support at times of personal crises. NSPL is focused on its core objective that addresses deprivation and marginalisation of workers engaged in urban waste handling, but steers clear of caste lines. Thus, rather than subscribing to the view that caste-based professions is a legacy of regressive social mores, preventing social mobility, it seeks to uplift the workers towards social dignity and access to development services. In that sense, it subscribes to the transformative process from ‘caste’ to ‘class’. NSPL’s work leads to this transformation of caste-based livelihoods very naturally over time, as second-generation community members opt for better work options and a higher socio-economic strata. This is the direct fall-out of resources that are ploughed into education of children by families who have benefitted as the original workforce of NSPL. It equally is linked to key development areas such as health and financial services that NSPL enables its workers to access. This transformation is indicative of the intervention’s sustainability factor that is grounded in NSPL’s conscious engagement with improved service conditions for the entire workforce. Advocacy and Future Expansion NSPL’s work as a service provider is open to scrutiny from different sectors including government, media and consumers. The company attempts to respond to these demands and in the process, enhance its performance. Through these channels, its constant effort is to leverage opportunities to expand and scale up its activities. It engages in advocacy at different levels of policy making, including Ward Councillors, Deputy Mayor, Nagar Prabandhak (City Manager), and the Municipal Councilor. Often the NSPL core team is invited to the City Council’s Board Meetings to present their current work and clarify specific aspects. This is an excellent forum to build linkages with top policy makers and become visible as a responsive and responsible player in the city’s civic management. It also


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“We have different streams of revenue in our model, but we find user charge (door-to-door collection) one of the most effective and sustainable. And we also promote manual and simple methods, which do not involve high cost and can also create opportunity for livelihood.” Ratnish Verma, Manager, Nidan, Patna

provides an opportunity for training junior NSPL functionaries, combining capacity building and advocacy, both of which are vital for the company’s profile and internal strengths. Advocacy serves not only as an effective mechanism to gauge perceptions of policy makers at the local level, but also to keep an ear to the ground in terms of public perceptions of the company’s work. As a service provider, it consciously adheres to quality benchmarks to ensure that those it serves are satisfied with its services. This is the key to NSPL enjoying a good reputation in the wards where it works, as well as the basis for seeking extension of the work to other wards. The entire staff is well-aware that public demand for services is critical to the company’s expansion within the present areas of operation as well as to win contracts with municipal corporations in other cities. Revenue Generation: Resources for Operations and Sustainability To maintain quality standards in services and continue to build the company’s profile, it is imperative to generate adequate resources as well as adopt a deft allocation of funds towards key areas such as infrastructure, maintenance and salaries. This has been instrumental in enabling NSPL to maintain quality of services as well as provide standard service conditions for its workforce. There are several streams of revenue generation that funds its operations.

While contract fee from municipality corporations contributes substantially to revenue generation; in NSPL’s experience, it is the user fee from ‘door-to-door garbage collection’ from households and institutions that offers a more steady income as contracts may not be a regular source. Thus in terms of sustainability, user charge is more reliable, effective, and ensures minimum dependency. The revenue generated by NSPL helps meet its annual operational costs. NSPL incurs operational costs of INR 3,12,35,000 per annum. It allocates a large chunk of resources towards the head ‘Salaries’. This demonstrates its prime concern with providing its workforce – standard service conditions as the first step towards their overall socio-economic development. Expenditure on infrastructure is also sizable and indicates NSPL’s emphasis on acquisition of modern equipment and facilities to maintain parity of services with current standards in the sector.

38%

50%

3% 2%

7%

NSPL: Sources of Revenue

Door-to-door garbage Collection Charge

Contract Fee from Municipal Corporation Bank Interest

Sale of Compost

PERCENTAGE ALLOCATION OF ANNUAL OPERATIONAL COSTS

Cost Head %

Infrastructure 24

Maintenance: building/vehicle/fuel, etc. 20


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“The biggest plus point of NSPL is that it is able to deliver on its work at all times. This is because of the excellent rapport they have built within the entire workforce. If there is a crisis in any ward, sanitation workers are more than willing to put in extra effort to solve it. This is because of the goodwill that exists. My opinion is that NSPL should be given charge of all the wards in the city.” Raj Kumar Raju, Councillor, Muzaffarpur

NSPL’s operation in Muzaffarpur, based on the PPP model with the Nagar Nigam, has a clearly defined HR structure that reflects the close coordination required between the various levels of employees. The focus of the model is to bring economic benefit to the excluded groups by incorporating them into the professional workforce as NSPL’s employees.

Impact and Outcomes As a business model, NSPL works outside the grant-funded project mode, as a private sector company, that draws its fundamental philosophy from the mandate of the NGO Nidan. The involvement with developmental aspects of the waste workers is at the core of NSPL’s goals and operations. Nidan believes that patterns of social exclusion and entrenched caste system cannot be completely eradicated within a short span of time, that too within the project mode that any NGO functions in, nor through the business model of NSPL. Caste tends to perpetuate itself in various forms and ways and what is needed is to develop the potential of lower caste communities to realise their self-worth and to resist oppression. Forming NSPL with waste pickers as Manager and Owners offers the potential for both social and economic emancipation of this community of sanitation workers. This provides opportunities to enable these socially marginalised groups to realise their self-worth and stake their claim to benefits of development. The impact of NSPL’s intervention needs to be seen as a sum of its overall business and social concerns. Successful Business Model for Urban Solid Waste Management Through its well-run business model, NSPL has been able to address a number of interrelated issues in solid waste

Salaries/ honorarium 55

Training and Capacity building 1

Total 100

HR MODEL

Staff Number

Project Manager 6

Quality/Quantity Manager 2

Organiser 20

Circle In-charge 5

Ward In-charge 18

Administration 3

Accounts 3

Procurement , Monitoring In-charge 5


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“Debris collection from construction sites has not been sanctioned by the Nigam. They say it will add enormously to the tonnage and send our bills spiralling, which will be a drain on their resources. The result is that the debris from construction sites is not being removed. This eventually becomes a garbage dump and reflects poorly on our work (in specific wards in our charge). This is no fault of ours. If we are allowed to pick up debris, it will not only lead to a cleaner city environment, but to higher revenues for us.” Pramod Kumar Singh, Manager, NSPL, Muzaffarpur

“Earlier we used to roam the streets for rag picking, sometimes get odd jobs to clean houses, toilets and yards or throw out garbage. When it rained, we couldn’t go out. In any case, we didn’t earn every day, only when we got lucky. This has changed dramatically, since NSPL offered us jobs as Safai Mitras. We do similar work, but for fixed hours, for a fixed pay. It is such a blessing to be able to buy monthly rations for the family in one go! We are able to save, send our children to school, buy LIC policies, and also take our families to park or to see a movie!” Safai Mitras, Muzaffarpur

management – from waste collection, transport, segregation, and disposal/treatment. Its success in this hinges on a combination of professional excellence and efficiency, and the use of methods of garbage collection, disposal and recycling, which are appropriate within the larger environment.

The company has established a niche in the urban waste management sector, as perhaps the only worker-owned company in urban waste management that has a social transformation potential. Within the PPP domain, NSPL’s work lies squarely in the realm of governance systems operating successfully in the areas of civic management and urban planning. Social Transformation of Excluded Working Class Communities NSPL retains Nidan’s commitment to the welfare and development of marginalised social groups, providing them with dignified employment and opportunities for all-round progress. It is sensitive to workers’ needs and consciously links them with core development aspects, enabling them to carve out a space in society, that they were previously denied. The following milestones reflect NSPL’s impact in terms of social transformation of excluded communities.

Creation of a professional identity of sanitation workers, transcending caste and beyond the traditional skill base of excluded communities. This signifies their transition from unorganised workforce to the organised sector.

Empowerment of Safai Mitras by inclusion in the company’s governance and policymaking through duality of roles as worker and board member. While the board comprises of five Safai Mitras, involved from the inception stage of NSPL’s formation, the company has opened its shares to the workers as well. Some 100 Safai Mitras are shareholders in the company and thus have multiple stakes in its growth. Currently all the board members are also shareholders.

Empowerment of urban waste workers to enable them to defend their rights in the larger social and political milieu. The filing of FIRs for crime or transgressions in any area of life and work, is being independently undertaken by the workers. This is a measure of the success of its strategy and leads to sustainable outcomes.

Breaking the inter-generational social and economic patterns of sanitation workers through focus on children’s education and building capacities for financial security, including access

to banking. Rag pickers, who are part of NSPL’s workforce, begin to send their children to school within three months of their induction and security of a regular income. The regularisation of income, and planning of financial resources for the benefit of the family – have all been baby steps taken by the newly empowered workforce towards financial inclusion. Managing bank accounts, allocation of funds towards education, and for health and life insurance policies – all indicate the growing awareness and understanding of banking and finance that they had previously been excluded from.

Job security and improved service conditions have a significant fall-out on patterns of alcoholism rampant amongst rag pickers. Earlier, this led to disruption of peaceful family routines as also a drain on resources. The benefit of getting one weekly holiday on Sunday has led to a decline in drinking. This is


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probably due to the time for personal and family chores and the opportunity to relax that time-off from work affords.

Securing sustainable livelihoods by establishing a strong professional workforce equipped with modern tools and techniques of waste management to undertake complete sanitation work through linkages with governmental organisations and private bodies.

Adopting the principle of ‘Zero Waste Management’ for effective, speedy and hygienic disposal of waste, adhering to standards defined by municipal corporations.

Establishing advocacy channels and forums to showcase present work, push for expansion within the existing area of operations as well as seek potential ones.

In a nutshell, this journey captures the significant change that NSPL has engendered within a society and economy that otherwise relegates to the margins, those who have traditionally been at the receiving end of an unequal socio-economic order.

Lessons Learned The strategy and the operations of NSPL has provided an immense sense of self-worth and dignity for socially marginalised groups, involved in urban waste management, that keeps our cities and towns clean. It has also afforded them recognition and identity as a professional group in mainstream society. The intervention has highlighted the poor socio-economic conditions of the rag pickers, in our urban centres, as well as the potential for transformation, given the right impetus and enabling environment. Some of the triggers for transformation are evident in the due process of NSPL’s work with the waste workers. These merit attention:

Three months of regular salary for a waste picker can assure school education for their children. This constitutes the beginning of education of the next generation.

A mere provision of weekly holiday on Sunday can result in a drastic reduction of alcoholism.

Entitlement to medical aid, life insurance and monetary security, the opening of bank accounts, can inculcate a more responsible planning of domestic budgets and a sense of financial security.

In terms of gender sensitivity, NSPL has consciously moved towards including women not only at the level of the worker, but at the leadership level as well. With 70% women in the governance of the company, this establishes a gender-balanced approach. In the process NSPL has established a profit-making enterprise based on solid waste management as well as improved the socio-economic status of the erstwhile unorganised rag pickers. This model facilitates economic and social transformation of workers through strengthening equity, self-efficacy, fair norms of distribution of services, respect and dignity. The Safai Mitras’ journey from unorganised workers, marginalised in the mainstream urban milieu, towards regular employees of a credible company, has helped overcome limitations of caste, and created an identity based on professional standards and dignity of labour. The basis for the movement of rag pickers/ sweepers from stigmatized and marginalised persons into dignified Safai Mitras has been primarily economic, integrated with due attention to various dimensions of development. This approach of basing social transformation of excluded communities, on creation of a modern professional working class identity, is a valuable lesson for addressing exclusion. The intervention has been able to leverage opportunities opened up by the PPP model that has increasingly gained acceptance in policy circles. The major difference in the NSPL model of PPP is


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“We got our maiden contract from the Patna Municipal Corporation. This was an immense learning for us. All other revenue streams, like door to door garbage collection and vermi-composting emerged from this. For us the link with municipalities is a priority. It not only gives us revenue, but credibility. It builds our company profile and the opportunity to bid for larger projects in other cities and scale up the model.” Ratnish Verma, Manager, Nidan, Patna

that the private player in this arrangement is an organisation of urban waste pickers and not a corporate entity. This PPP relationship is currently a contractual arrangement between NSPL and Municipality and not a true partnership where the Municipality promotes and supports initiatives like NSPL. The terms of engagement between NSPL and the Municipal Corporation have limitations. The partnership is currently a contractual arrangement between the two entities, limited to aspects of waste management, and lacks the convergence of principles and guiding philosophy of social developmental goals that NSPL is predicated on. Such a convergence needs to be, necessarily a part of any PPP model. At the same time, the key to the consolidation and expansion of NSPL’s work lies in successful adherence to the terms of the contract with Municipal Corporations. Sanitation services in specific areas within the city are handed over to the company, on the basis of a payment policy calculated as per the volume of solid waste collected. Well-managed services generate goodwill that translates into social capital and capacity. This intervention holds lessons for institutional strengthening in terms of business values, applied with integrity as well as social concern. A PPP model, that combines the strengths and resources of both organisations/parties/partners, necessarily needs to be sensitive to each-other’s limitations and responsive to the inherent potential of the partnership. To proactively create this synergy and maximise efficiency as well as potential for growth is a key lesson. However, this requires continuous advocacy and negotiations, in an interactive relationship between the different partners. The principle of Zero Waste Management holds the potential to divert elements that make up solid waste into activity streams that promote livelihoods through environmentally-sound techniques of waste disposal. .

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