HYDERABAD: With plastic scrap dealers in the city in a wait-and-watch mode, the livelihoods of rag-pickers will be the most affected. Those working closely with community say this could translate into rag-pickers losing a lucrative employment option. Rag-picking pays better than daily wage labour work for 1,725 Rohingya refugees living in Hyderabad, says Mohammad Asif, programme coordinator with Save The Children, who works closely with community.
A rag-picker in the city can earn anywhere between ` 10 and `14 for a kilo of plastic. The rates are higher for better grade of plastic they procure. But with the prices of goods made of recycled plastic set to soar with 18 and 28 per cent GST, many dealers are shying away from accumulating more stock.
However, Abdul Karim, a rag-picker from the Rohingya community, says, “There is no problem as for now.” He usually visits his plastic dealer once in three weeks but has not visited him since Eid. Karim is unaware of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) and its implications on his chosen profession.