Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Scrap Merchants Association (KSMA), an organization representing key participants in the state’s solid waste management process, organized an Assembly March today, October 8, demanding job protection and complete exemption of scrap materials from taxation, among other demands. The march was taken out to draw the government’s attention to the rights necessary for the survival of this sector, which enables the collection and processing of scrap materials.
The job protection rally, which began at 10 a.m. from PutharikandamMaidan in Thiruvananthapuram, was inaugurated by KSMA State President Muhammad Asif. The declaration of the rights charter was announced by State Secretary K. P. A. Shareef. Around 10,000 participants, including all district-level workers from Thiruvananthapuram and selected representatives from 13 other districts, took part in the rally.
Nearly three lakh people are engaged in this sector, ranging from individual scrap collectors to large-scale company operators. Despite contributing crores of rupees in taxes to the state and central governments, government agencies such as the Haritha Karma Sena and the Pollution Control Board are allegedly interfering in the functioning of this sector, ignoring the rights of thousands of workers.
KSMA State President Muhammad Asif and State Secretary K. P. A. Shareef demanded that such intrusions be stopped and that the state’s waste management processes should take into account the difficulties faced by those working in this sector.
