Whenever you and I see a rag picker or a rag picker, it comes to mind how do these people do it? Because perhaps no one does it happily finds and collects plastic amidst the dirt and stench.
You must have seen many people throwing garbage in a clumsy way even in dustbins or dustbins kept for local areas.
Those who want to do something see beauty even in these garbage heaps. Now even a shining diamond comes out of a coal mine only.
The characters of our today's story have some similar thoughts, who found fashion out of the garbage. Let's know, how she started her business by taking the waste pickers along?
Delhi's Anita Ahuja and her husband Shalabh Ahuja are giving a beautiful form to the garbage by forming an organization called Conserve India.
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They recycle plastic waste to make beautiful products of export quality. This initiative of hers not only encourages the 'Swachh Bharat' and 'Make in India' campaigns but also provides employment opportunities to thousands of waste pickers. Along with this, she used to make people aware of the topics of cleanliness, tree plantation, etc.
Her daughter Kanika Ahuja also fully supported her in this business. Anita Ahuja and her husband Shalabh Ahuja founded an NGO named Conserve India in the year 1998. The goal of the NGO was cleanliness and using garbage and waste material to put it to other uses.
Anita Ahuja was born in Bhopal and grew up in Delhi. She has received an education from Delhi University. She is the daughter of a freedom fighter. She spent her whole life in the service and transformation of the society. Seeing the plight of rag pickers, she decided that she would do something to improve their lives.
With an aim to do something better and transformative in life, she started working for rag pickers.
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To bring her thoughts to the page, Anita Ji decided to take up some small projects in her locality with like-minded friends and family members. Under this project, started collecting garbage from all over the area. The kitchen waste was separated from the collected waste and kept in a nearby park to be composted. In the very beginning, she realized that it would be unwise to walk alone to reach the goal, so Anita Ji sought cooperation from other colonies as well.
Her NGO Conserve India started Resident Welfare Association with around 3000 people. This association became a full-time commitment organization in 2002 having its own rights. After working with rag pickers for four years, she realized that their standard of living was below the poverty line. She had seen in the slum areas of Delhi, that the rag pickers there work hard all day long. But they do not get the proper value for their hard work. To improve their standard of living, it was necessary that they should be given a good source of income.
There are many problems in our society and an NGO can only focus on one issue or community. She decided that she would work to improve the standard of living of rag pickers. In the year 2004, he converted the NGO into a social enterprise. But it took him a long time to get it patented. In the year 2007, she was able to patent it.
She got information on recycling technology from the internet and tried different things. At first, they did weaving work and made carpets. But these products were very simple to see, and it took a lot of effort to prepare them. It was also not economically viable and selling them was also a difficult target.
Recognizing her experience at the fashion level, Anita Ji decided to develop plastic bags. She outlined that she would first create artwork in plastic bags and then exhibit them. But her husband did not find this project of hers effective.
Her husband Shalabh was an engineer, by now she had retired. When the work of making bags started, then she herself made a machine for making plastic sheets. She got the plastic sheets manufactured on a large scale by machine. Making artwork in it by automatic machine and then getting them displayed in the exhibition.
Thin plastic is required for making bags. Plastic has to go through a whole process to make it. Dyes or colors are not used in this. The colors of the plastic which are of their own come out in it.
In this process, Handmade Recycled Plastic (HRP) is made from the plastic waste first collected from the garbage.
To prevent dirt and infection, before making HRP, plastics are thoroughly cleaned.
Then it is separated according to the color and then mixing of these colors is done. These plastics are then fed in layers into a machine, which compresses them to form colored plastic sheets.
Then different types of bags, clutches, laptop bags and folders, etc. are made from these sheets.
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Conserve India participated in the trade fair at Pragati Maidan, Delhi.
In the year 2003, she participated in the trade fair. Where the Ministry of Textiles gave her a small booth. This one small booth gave a big recognition to her idea. She got an order of 30 lakhs from here.
Now the waste pickers had to go door-to-door to collect waste for plastic waste. But the need was high and plastics were rarely available. Special colored plastic was required to make bags. For this, she contacted the scrap dealers and started getting plastic waste directly from the industry as well. Gradually Conserve India became a brand and now by 2020, their turnover has reached 100 crores.
Her daughter Kanika Ahuja also joined the business after completing her engineering from Manipal University and MBA from Delhi University. In the year 2017, she started a brand named Lifafa to sell bags. Which was also supported by Lakme Fashion Week and twice her brand became a part of this fashion week. Kanika handles this business and its marketing. Whereas Anita ji looks after the training and designing of the employees.
Today the demand for these bags is increasing not only in the country but also abroad. Apart from being visually appealing, these bags are also very strong and durable.
At present, keeping in mind the new technology, work is also being done on recycling packaging material. Along with this, she is also talking to the 'Fab-Lab' of Paris, which use new technology for plastic recycling. If successful, toys can also be made from these plastics. Due to this more and more waste plastic can be reused.
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Conserve India has started a social campaign called Pehchan for waste pickers. By providing 'Conserve Employee Cards', Conserve India is strengthening the voice of waste pickers in society. In this campaign to get rag pickers recognized, Conserve India is trying to get the Delhi government to officially register over 150,000 rag pickers. So that they can be given the right to fair wages.
When Anita Ji started Conserve India, she had to face many difficulties. Today she has become an example for countless people. The work done with dedication and honesty never fails, the only condition is continuity and the spirit to do something.
Due to the efforts of Anita Ahuja, changes are coming in the lives of those people who, despite being engaged in cleaning the country, yearn for bread two times.
We salute the efforts of Anita Ahuja and wish you progress and progress. Your efforts are giving those people the right to live with dignity, who have been left behind by lack of education and hunger.
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