JAMMU&KASHMIR: The story of middle aged Tariq Ahmed Ganai from Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir is the inspiring rags to riches story, from battling abject poverty in his childhood days to setting up a flourishing waste recycling unit that not only addresses the environmental concerns but also provides employment to several unemployed.
Hailing from Garihama village of Kulgam in south Kashmir, Tariq says he has witnessed the abject poverty when his family struggled for livelihood. “I gave up education when I was in third standard after my father’s demise. The responsibility of supporting my family and providing livelihood to them fell on my shoulders. With no resources available, my destiny took me to Delhi in search of livelihood,” Tariq recalled.
In the Capital city, he worked menial jobs, including toilingas a labourer and pushing hand-pulled carts to earn bread and butter for himself and his family. Recalling his struggle, an emotional Tariq said. “It was an extremely tough life. I worked as a labourer and collected plastic and other waste for the scrap dealers. I still have scars on my shoulder.”
He, however, said working as a labourer with scrap dealers turned into a blessing in disguise for him. “I am a keen observer and while working at the scrap units, I observed things very keenly like how they tag and segregate different items of scrap. I learnt details about the plastic recycling trade,” Tariq said. While working with scrap dealers and the plastic recycling units in Delhi, he developed an urge to return to his native place and set up the recycling unit to not only earn livelihood for himself but also provide employment opportunities to others and also play a part in safeguarding the environment.
And with this urge, Tariq returned home to set up a venture to turn his past hardships into the building blocks of a successful enterprise. He returned home after eight years and set up his unit of crushing and processing of scrap at his native village. “My concern was not only earning money but to safeguard the environment. I am quite aware of the harmful impact of plastic waste on the environment,” Tariq said.
He then approached a local Jammu and Kashmir Bank and availed a loan to set up a recycling unit in his native place. He also got his unit registered as a micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME). Tariq established the recycling unit in 2014 and since then he and his unit have faced ups and downs. “There was an agitation in 2016 and again there was shutdown in 2019 and then Covid outbreak in 2020 and 2021,” he said.
He has braved these financial upsets and continues hardwork to expand his plastic recycling endeavour.
“I now have 50 auto-rickshaws and engaged local youth to collect waste from different areas of Kulgam and adjoining districts. Besides, I also got a few other vehicles to purchase plastic waste and scrap from people and then recycle them at my unit,” Tariq said.
With Tariq paying for the plastic waste, it has not only ensured that people are earning money out of their waste but also ensured a clean environment in the south Kashmir district. “We collect all the garbage and segregate it for recycling at our unit. Afterwards, we send the raw material to different factories in Jammu, Delhi, Kanpur and other parts of the country,” Tariq said.
Through his recycling unit, Tariq is providing employment to at least 60 persons including some graduates. “It gives me satisfaction that despite facing hard times, I am able to provide employment opportunities to people through my unit,” Tariq said and urged the government to support waste recycling units by providing them soft loans with low-interest rates and subsidies.
The Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir in his monthly “Awaam Ki Awaz” programme mentioned about the success story of Tariq and urged the youth to follow him to become a successful entrepreneur.
In order to tackle environmental challenges and foster economic growth, Tariq has big dreams and wants to expand his business.