BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Postal Region launched an eco-friendly initiative on Tuesday to encourage public voluntary funding for the disposal of recyclable items.
Introduced as Lifestyle for Environment(LIFE), the concept is being trialled using just one individual. If successful, many individuals and NGOs will be roped in, says India Post.
Ragpicker Periasamy Govindan, who resides in a cubicle on St Marks Road, called a `Swachhata Entrepreneur’ by the Postal department, has been tasked with going door-to-door with a poster with a QR code on it. It can be scanned by people who would like to make a payment voluntarily.
The Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle, Rajendra S Kumar told TNIE, “Govindan will collect plastic bottles, cardboard, e-waste and other products that can be recycled from households. He will hand over the poster to them which suggests that if they wish to, they can pay any amount for the items collected. It is completely voluntary.”
He added, “We are used to paying for whatever we consume but not for what we want to discard. The objective is to persuade people to pay for what they are discarding. This is just a Proof of Concept.”
Govindan, who has a disability, has an Aadhar card but because it has a Tamil Nadu address, he is not eligible for social security benefits in Karnataka.
The Postal department had opened a savings account for him earlier. “We are now seeing if we can help him earn too. The response will be assessed after a month by assessing the payments made. If the public warms up to the idea, we plan to rope in more individuals who would like to earn in this fashion and a few NGOs too. It can be replicated across the city,” the CPMG said.
Asked about the rationale behind the Postal department getting into the garbage collection business, the CPMG said, “The garbage collection system is a failure in Bengaluru. We are just trying out a novel approach to see if we can create some civic awareness and social responsibility among the public.”