Several GHMC garbage collection workers were detained by police near the Telangana Legislative Assembly on Saturday after they attempted to protest proposed changes to Hyderabad’s door-to-door garbage collection system, including the possible handover of the work to private agencies.
The workers were opposing changes to the existing system and demanded that the decades-old door-to-door household garbage collection arrangement continue. They carried placards highlighting their objections to private agency involvement and sought protection for their current work.
According to the workers, they wanted to continue with door-to-door garbage collection rather than be shifted to wage- or salary-based jobs. Their protest focused on the proposed change in the nature of their work and the possible impact of private contracting on their existing roles.
The protesters attempted to proceed towards the Assembly to present their demands. Police detained several workers and shifted them to a nearby police station. The report did not specify the number of workers taken into custody or how long they were held.
The dispute centres on the organisation of household waste collection in Hyderabad. Under the system the workers are seeking to retain, garbage is collected directly from households. The proposed changes, as described by the protesting workers, would involve private agencies in carrying out the collection work.
The workers’ demands also place their employment concerns alongside the city’s sanitation arrangements. Any change to the collection model would affect both the people currently engaged in door-to-door collection and the way households interact with the municipal waste system. The workers have opposed being moved from their existing collection duties to wage- or salary-based employment.
The protest took place near the Assembly as the workers sought to bring their objections to the attention of the authorities. The available report did not include a statement from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the Telangana government or the police on the proposed changes, the basis for the private agency plan, or the detention of the workers.
The immediate next step remains the authorities’ response to the workers’ demand to continue the existing door-to-door collection system and to their opposition to private agencies taking over the work.
