Solid Waste Heroes: BITAN's Safai Mitras Win National Award
A collective of 24 women Safai Mitras trained by BITAN under Swachh Bharat Mission received the National Urban Livelihoods Mission award for innovative waste enterprise in New Delhi.
Twenty-four women waste workers — trained and mentored by BITAN as Safai Mitras since 2021 — received the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) Award for Innovative Waste Enterprise in New Delhi on 12 October 2025. The collective, based in Budge Budge Municipality, was recognised for creating a sustainable business model that turns household organic waste into compost sold directly to urban farms and municipal green spaces.
The Safai Mitra Collective, as it is formally registered, was set up with BITAN's support in 2022 as a community-based enterprise. Each member earns a stable monthly income from collection fees, compost sales, and the sale of segregated dry waste to recyclers — replacing the insecure, stigmatised work of informal ragpicking that many had previously depended on. The collective's average member income has grown from ₹3,200 to ₹7,100 per month since registration.
"We used to be invisible. We did the same work but nobody saw us — they just saw the garbage," said the collective's president at the award ceremony. "Now we have ID cards, we have a bank account, we have an award from the government. We are entrepreneurs." Her remarks drew a standing ovation from the assembled municipal officials and civil society representatives.
BITAN's role in the collective's journey has included legal registration support, financial literacy training, market linkage development, and advocacy with Budge Budge Municipality to formalise the collective's service contract — ensuring members receive provident fund coverage for the first time. The organisation also helped the collective access working capital from a microfinance institution.
The award has generated significant interest from other municipalities in West Bengal. BITAN has been invited to present the Safai Mitra model at the West Bengal Municipal Affairs Department's state-level workshop in December 2025, with a view to providing a blueprint for similar collectives across the state's 125 urban local bodies.