Harshad Barde

Harshad is a Director of the SWaCH Pune Cooperative, India's first autonomous cooperative of informal waste-pickers. A lawyer by training, he has been a member of the Central Government's drafting committee for finalising the 2016 Solid Waste and Plastic Waste Management rules. He also serves as the General Secretary of the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat, a ten thousand strong, member-based Trade Union of informal waste-pickers in Pune which strives to empower and enhance livelihoods of waste-pickers in Pune.

2020 Vol 2 Qtr 3 Rubaru

The Waste Pickers’ Revolution: Organising for Livelihoods and Rights

A scorchingly insightful conversation about the waste pickers who keep the dream and possibility of Swachh Bharat alive by risking their own lives

By Harshad Barde / January 11, 2020

Harshad Barde

Harshad is a Director of the SWaCH Pune Cooperative, India's first autonomous cooperative of informal waste-pickers. A lawyer by training, he has been a member of the Central Government's drafting committee for finalising the 2016 Solid Waste and Plastic Waste Management rules. He also serves as the General Secretary of the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat, a ten thousand strong, member-based Trade Union of informal waste-pickers in Pune which strives to empower and enhance livelihoods of waste-pickers in Pune.