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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 8:56:24 pm

Aaditya bats for ‘truth’

Mumbai: Two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a FIR in the Disha Salian case, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA and ex-Minister Aaditya Thackeray broke his silence – to proclaim that he would “fight for truth and against injustice”, here on Wednesday. “For the sake of truth, against injustice, our fight will continue,” vowed Aditya, daring his opponents that all attempts to silence him through ‘politically motivated character assassination’ will not succeed. Thackeray Jr’s...

Aaditya bats for ‘truth’

Mumbai: Two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a FIR in the Disha Salian case, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA and ex-Minister Aaditya Thackeray broke his silence – to proclaim that he would “fight for truth and against injustice”, here on Wednesday. “For the sake of truth, against injustice, our fight will continue,” vowed Aditya, daring his opponents that all attempts to silence him through ‘politically motivated character assassination’ will not succeed. Thackeray Jr’s assertion came after the CBI recorded the statement of Disha Salian’s father Satish Salian as per the September 2 directives of the Bombay High Court handing over the case probe to the central agency. Taking to X today, Aaditya said: “To stop the dust of rumors once again, I'm stating only and only the facts! Let’s cut through the noise and talk facts, once again. I have never met Disha Salian, nor did I have any acquaintance with her, or have known her." Nevertheless, Aaditya said that for the past six years, due to political motives arising out of personal enmity and with the intent of character assassination, “some people have been deliberately trying to link my name to this unfortunate incident repeatedly, despite there being no evidence or connection whatsoever”. With an apparent tinge of regret, the SS (UBT) MLA said that the false discussions on television channels and media trials carried out through empty bluster cannot alter the truth. “Loud TV debates and media trials do not change the facts. Let the official re-investigation proceed without malicious distractions and relentless smear campaigns run by vested interests without a single shred of evidence and truth is highly unfortunate,” Aaditya said. The controversy dates back to June 2020, when Disha Salian, 28, a celebrity manager who had worked with the late actor Sushant Singh Rajput, died after falling from a high-rise building in Malad. The Mumbai Police initially investigated the death as an accidental-death matter and subsequently concluded there was no foul play. Later however, her father Satish Salian challenged the handling of the case and sought a fresh investigation. Allowing his plea, the high court ordered the CBI to register an FIR and conduct a substantive investigation with an open mind into the circumstances surrounding her death. Crucially, the court also stated that it was not making findings against any individual and directed that no person be treated as an accused unless material emerged during investigations.

From Waste to Dignity

Writer: Divyaa Advaani 
Divyaa Advaani 
Jun 26
3 min read

Last week's article highlighted how exclusionary policies continue to undermine the livelihoods of waste pickers despite their vital contribution to urban waste management. Yet, there are also inspiring examples of how waste pickers have organised to secure recognition, protect their rights, and transform public perceptions. One of the earliest and most influential is the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP).


Exclusion Costs

In 2019, the Bengaluru city administration expanded private contracting arrangements in the city's waste management sector. This reportedly deprived thousands of waste pickers of access to neighbourhoods where they had traditionally collected recyclable waste.


An estimated 8,000 waste pickers found their livelihoods severely affected after contractors restricted their entry into these localities. Many were pushed into greater economic insecurity despite having played a crucial role in the city's recycling ecosystem for years.


In Hyderabad, the 2021 municipal tender mandated door-to-door collection by mechanised vehicles. This effectively criminalised the manual collection that waste pickers had carried out for decades.


Such exclusionary practices not only threaten the survival of vulnerable workers. They also contradict the objectives of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, which explicitly call for the integration and formal recognition of waste pickers within municipal waste management systems.


Rather than treating waste pickers as competitors to modern waste management, municipalities should recognise them as indispensable environmental service providers. Integrating informal workers into formal collection systems through cooperatives, service contracts, and social protection measures would promote both environmental sustainability and social justice. It would also ensure that the transition to a circular economy does not come at the expense of those whose labour has long sustained urban recycling.


However, such integration and inclusion require legal mandates, enforcement mechanisms, and financial resources directed towards cooperatives rather than corporations.


Fortunately, there are successful examples that demonstrate how recognising and organising waste pickers benefits not only the workers themselves but also cities, citizens, and the environment. One such example is KKPKP, a pioneering movement that has inspired similar initiatives across India.


KKPKP: Collective Courage

In the early 1990s, waste pickers in the Pimpri-Chinchwad area, just like their counterparts in many other cities and towns, faced severe social stigma and were often treated with disrespect because of the work they did. Yet, they were not collecting waste because they chose a life among garbage. They were earning a livelihood by recovering valuable recyclable materials that had supported their families for generations.


A turning point came in 1993, when many waste pickers gathered to share their experiences, hardships, and frustrations. For the first time, they spoke openly about their anger and the injustice of being treated as invisible human beings. They realised that their strength lay not in standing alone but in standing together.


That gathering became a turning point. It was the moment when they decided to reclaim their dignity, assert their rights, and walk a new path with confidence and self-respect. The meeting gave them the confidence to unite, organise, and fight for dignity and recognition. Out of this collective awakening was born the Kagad Kach Patra Kashtakari Panchayat (KKPKP)—a cooperative movement built by waste pickers themselves.


The members of KKPKP are not merely people who collect waste. They are self-employed environmental workers whose efforts help keep cities cleaner, reduce landfill waste, and return valuable materials to the economy.


Their journey is not only a story of waste management. It is also a story of courage, unity, dignity, and the transformation of a marginalised community into a recognised force for environmental change.


In my next article, I will share more such success stories that demonstrate how inclusion and supportive public policy can improve both waste management outcomes and the lives of those who make them possible. Till then, have a great weekend!


(The writer is an environmentalist. Views personal.)

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