International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

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Volume 8 Issue 5
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From Informal Waste Pickers to Formal Green Workforce: A Comparative Study of State Led and Civil Society Models of Green Workforce Formalisation in Kerala and Bengaluru

Author(s) Mr. Paulson Jayson Chettiparambil, Mr. Alen Antony Michael
Country India
Abstract Informal waste pickers form the backbone of solid waste recovery in urban and semi-urban India, yet they remain among the most socially excluded occupational groups in the country. The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 marked the first national policy attempt to formally recognise this workforce, opening space for state governments and civil society to design pathways from informality to a recognised “green workforce” (Wikipedia, 2026; Deccan Herald, n.d.). This paper presents a comparative case study of two contrasting Indian models of formalisation: Kerala’s state-driven Haritha Karma Sena (HKS), operating under the Haritha Keralam Mission and Kudumbashree network, and Bengaluru’s civil-society-driven ecosystem built around the cooperative Hasiru Dala and its partnership with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Drawing on secondary data from government reports, peer-reviewed literature, and organisational documentation, the paper compares the two models on institutional structure, scale, income mechanisms, social protection, and persistent barriers such as stigma and caste discrimination. The analysis finds that while both models have improved dignity, income security, and recognition for waste workers, the state-led Kerala model has achieved wider geographic scale and cadre-based standardisation, whereas Bengaluru’s NGO-mediated model demonstrates deeper attention to the lived realities and self-organisation of pre-existing informal waste pickers. The paper concludes with implications for medical and social work practice, particularly the roles of community organisation, policy advocacy, and gender-sensitive livelihood programming in sustaining the transition of waste pickers into a formal green workforce.
Keywords informal waste pickers, formalisation, Haritha Karma Sena, Hasiru Dala, Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, green workforce, social work practice
Field Sociology
Published In Volume 8, Issue 5, September-October 2026
Published On 2026-10-19
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E-ISSN 2582-2160
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CrossRef DOI prefix of IJFMR is 10.36948/ijfmr

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