Waste Warriors Society has worked in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh with a long chain of self-driven people who have stories to tell and miles to go. And behind all that happens, we want to introduce people who touch lives and have been our constant source of inspiration for us and many others in Dharamshala.
And we would like you to meet the people who are showing the way forward through our support and in their unique ways towards regaining Himachal Pradesh’s lost glory of being clean, pristine, and stunning and now can be seen cleaning up its act.
Rajkumar, is one such an extraordinary individual whose journey is nothing short of inspirational. Hailing from McLeodganj, Himachal Pradesh, Rajkumar migrated from Allahabad to Dharamshala in 2000 and soon found himself working in the waste sector.
Consequently, when Waste Warriors society was established in 2012, Rajkumar became one of its first employees. Today, he proudly serves as the supervisor of the Material Recovery Facility in Dharamshala. And that is how our local entrepreneurship model ensures that people arising from the community lead by giving back to the community as it makes them accountable to the community they serve too.
Working for 15 years for the society, he’s driven by love for his family, his children’s education is his priority. He shares, “I want them to grow up with a mindset of keeping their surroundings clean, no matter what they choose to do in life.”
He also expresses, “I have no regrets or shame about working in waste management. These 15 years have been rewarding, and I often wonder how much more effective I could have been with further education.”
And this is why we believe training plays a huge role in empowering individuals to start businesses in waste management. Because venturing full on into waste management goes beyond cleanliness of the city or the village. As it also enables the person to break personal and social barriers and fosters a collective growth in the community’s behavior and responsiveness towards waste and the people who work for and in the waste sector.
