Women station workers in Chattisgarh's Koriya district have started to use whistles as an alternative to knocking on doors to alert the neighbourhood to bring out their garbage.
According to a station worker, whistling is a more efficient and simple process than the previous door-to-door method.
"How long will we keep knocking on doors? Whistling is a much easier process than knocking on each individual door. We do not need to walk up now. People come out of their houses as soon as they hear our whistle," she told .
Municipal commissioner Jyotsna Toppo said that now, these women have newfound confidence as they earn their own incomes and are not so heavily dependent on their family members.
" These women are our district's door-to-door garbage collectors. Every day they go with their rickshaws and collect garbage from all the houses. They segregate the material and keep whatever can be sold. The rest is turned into khaad (fertiliser). These women are from very backward sections of society, who weren't allowed to leave the house also. Now they earn a salary of 6,000 rupees per month and I believe this has empowered them as they have their own independent incomes now," Toppo told .
She also said that in the last year, these women have sold a total of 30,000 rupees worth of dry waste. They divide the money amongst themselves as a bonus for their hard work.
"These women are proud workers of the state's Mission Clean City and have a newfound confidence that they are making a difference in society. They now live with dignity and have a respectable place in society. Earlier, they used to be just bystanders and victims of societal prejudices but now they have the confidence and stand up for themselves," she added.
( With inputs from ANI )