Dignity of livelihoods

Bengaluru generates nearly 5,000 tonnes of waste, of which more than 1,500 tonnes are generated by bulk waste generators.

SWMRT has been instrumental in guiding and facilitating apartments and communities to adopt in-situ (on site) composting of organic waste.

Working with waste is a highly challenging job and it is important to motivate the compost karigars (workers) and provide them dignity of livelihood.

Acknowledge the key role of compost karigars (workers) in turning organic waste to black gold that in turn nourishes the earth.

To incentivize these karigars who execute or supervise composting activities in apartments, SWMRT wants to reward 20 deserving individuals with a Rs 10,000 incentive award.

Recognize the valuable work done by the compost karigars and acknowledge their contribution to environmental health. Further, help divert 60% of daily household waste away from landfills, while encouraging bulk generators to take responsibility of their waste.

Help create a cleaner environment for marginalized rural and urban communities living near landfill sites. Lastly, the compost generated in-house will support nearby farmers by improving soil composition.

Campaign Update:

In October 2022, we initiated this fund raising campaign to raise funds to acknowledge the compost karigars. In December 2022, we invited apartments in Bengaluru who are doing in-situ composting to nominate their Compost Karigars for this campaign. We received a fantastic response from 21 communities across Bangalore, representing almost 7000 households. A huge shout out to all those who sent in nominations and congratulations that you are doing in-situ composting.

 Our esteemed jury members: Dr Umashankar, Valli Srinivasan and Padmashree Mahesh shortlisted 9 communities. The jury members then visited these communities, observed the process of composting, quality of compost and interacted with the karigars. And after a lot of deliberations and discussions, selected 6 communities as winners of this edition.

 To felicitate the compost karigars, SWMRT, in association with HSR Citizens Forum (HCF), organised "Swacha Sambhrama" event on March 4, 2023, at SwachaGraha Kalika Kendra. The winners were felicitated by Srinivasulu from IFS, Anslem Rosario, Director of Biowise Horticulture Products and Joint Commissioner Krishnamurthy, Bommanahalli. The winning apartment representatives, their karigar teams participated in full strength. The karigars were felicitated with a cash prize, a certificate and a cloth bag filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.