Lack of community organisers hits work

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Clean City Capital City project of the City Corporation is yearning for a fresh lease of life. Hit by the absence of a proper monitoring system, the project, under which Kudumbashree women members collect garbage from households, has met with problems at many places. In many wards, Kudumbashree members appear just three or four days a week, forcing the residents to keep stocking the stinking garbage, which has raised resentment in many places. The Corporation’s directive to collect plastic waste once in three days has also added to the problems. The Cleanwell units collect the waste and dump it at some corner for transportation at a later time.  Though the women have been asked to take precautions and wear gloves, boots and uniform on the job, many are reluctant to do it. The unsympathetic nature of some of the residents and shop keepers also forces the Kudumbashree women to skip the work or retract using sharp words. This also has led to problems at many places. According to Corporation officials, the issue had cropped up due to the absence of Community Organisers in many wards. ‘’When there were Community Organisers (CO) in the wards, there was a strict monitoring system in place. But there is a shortage of COs at present. We are aware of the problems; and shortly after Onam, we intend to call upon the Cleanwell units and sort things out,’’ said S Pushpalatha, Health Standing Committee chairperson. According to Health officials, the plight of the Kudumbashree women was  also pathetic since they deal with all kinds of garbage and the residents often show little empathy. There have been repeated complaints about how some families dump faeces, broken glasses and even unwashed napkins into the garbage. The Corporation has managed to do very little in this respect. ‘’The two officials we have been allotted from the Mission office of Kudumbashree have not yet joined. If there is somebody to listen to their woes and do the needful, it could be more streamlined,’’ Pushpalatha said. Whatever said and done, the women are a hurtful lot when they refer to the way a supposedly ‘civic’ society behaves with them. ‘’If only the public see them as human beings and not machines out there to collect the garbage they generate, the situation would change. Or else, the Corporation must see to it that the project is being handled properly,’’ is how a Kudumbashree member reacted.