Jaim Ali, 27, arrives for work in Defence Colony’s A Block around 8 am. Donning a mask and gloves, he and his helper go around 100 buildings and collect waste from each house.He then segregates it into dry and wet waste, with the dry waste further separated into recyclable and non-recyclable material. The wet waste is deposited in a compost pit made by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) near C1 Block.Ali has been an informal waste worker since he was 15. He earns around Rs 200, along with tips, from each house. His total earnings in a month is around Rs 25,000.But an experiment by the Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) to bring in an NGO and formalise waste collection has disrupted that arrangement, with Ali and other workers divided over a salary-based system and a requirement to collect user fees from residents.System changeIn August, the A Block RWA brought in Shrishti Environment and Livelihood Foundation (SELF), an NGO from Indore, to introduce a new waste collection model.“Initially, we were fine with the NGO. They gave us tips on how to separate waste and provided us with masks and gloves,” Ali said.The dispute began when the NGO brought in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) and allegedly forced the workers — six of them in A Block — to sign the document.Story continues below this ad“We didn’t know what was in the MoU. But most of us signed it because the NGO threatened us that if we didn’t sign the document, we could no longer collect waste from Block A,” he claimed.The MoU, which The Indian Express has seen, contained several provisions: It required workers to work on a salary basis — at the minimum wage amount — along with employee benefits, which were unclear. Ali claimed SELF was willing to pay Rs 18,000.“I’ve worked in this colony for more than 10 years. And they want me to go back to earning less than I am earning now. How is that fair?” he said.The MoU also put the onus on workers to collect a ‘user fee’ of Rs 150 from each household and then hand it over to SELF. Each worker is required to collect the fee from at least 100 buildings, each of which may have multiple floors and several households.Story continues below this adThis has raised another concern for workers such as Raju, 32, who has not signed the MoU.“I asked one of the supervisors about this and they said to just collect waste and fees from more buildings. First of all, it is impossible for me to do that alone without a helper. Plus, most of these houses, especially those on the ground and first floors, discard their waste in the MCD tippers,” Raju said.He started working in the colony after his father got into an accident and could no longer work. “I cover 40 kitchens alone, which is more than I can handle. But in order to cover rent and other expenses, it will have to be done,” he said.The workers who have signed the MoU, as well as those who have not, claimed they are yet to receive their salaries for August.Story continues below this adAli, who covers more than 100 buildings, claimed, “Last time when the meeting happened, I said that I will do my work in my own way, following the government rules. I won’t work on a salary basis. Maybe that’s why I am not getting paid.”‘A pilot’ for the colonyShammi Talwar, an A Block RWA member who was in-charge of bringing SELF to the colony, said the NGO had been given A Block as a pilot. “Our next proposal is that if they are successful here, then we will give them C and D blocks as well,” Talwar said.She denied claims that the RWA or SELF had forced workers to sign the MoU.“If they don’t want to sign, no problem. We are not forcing anyone. The MoU is in their favour. They are getting minimum wages plus they are getting dry waste which they can sell. What else is needed?” she said.Story continues below this adTalwar also claimed the arrangement would provide the workers with additional benefits, including medical assistance, and help them build their reputation by working with an NGO.But Ali said the dispute was not simply about the terms of the new arrangement.He claimed this was not the first time the A Block RWA had been hostile towards them. In 2020, just when the Covid lockdown had started, the workers were removed from the colony, leaving them without a livelihood.“One of the residents in Block C was kind enough to let us work in their block and we owe a great favour to her. She gave us safety kits, masks and PPE kits,” Ali said.Story continues below this adFormal recognition under cloudThe dispute has also raised questions about whether the workers should first be formally identified and brought under the government’s existing welfare framework for waste workers.Bhavreen Kandhari, an environmental activist and a resident of Block C in Defence Colony, said that under the new Solid Waste Management rules, the workers could be included in the Central government’s National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme.“But the RWA couldn’t be bothered about identification, enumeration and registration of waste workers under the scheme, which is intended to support the safety, dignity, training, PPE, health coverage and livelihood of waste pickers. The arrangement to place them under a private MoU without addressing their formal inclusion in the government framework is fishy,” she claimed.In response, Talwar said she had tried to add the workers to the NAMASTE scheme.Story continues below this ad“I have applied for them in the scheme. The authorities concerned said when there are 200-400 ragpickers, then we will register them. Right now, we have less than 20 workers across five blocks of Defence Colony,” she said.When contacted for comment, president of the Defence Colony Welfare Association, Major Ranjit Singh, said he had no knowledge of the MoU that was signed or this particular NGO. “But we do usually collaborate with different NGOs for better waste management due to the failure of MCD to do so. There are fewer vehicles and waste segregation is not being done, and MCD fails to penalise those who don’t,” he said.The Indian Express reached out to SELF, but the NGO declined to comment on the alleged MoU and the issues faced by workers.