Makseema Minj, a sanitary worker, has earned many laurels for herself and her city in women empowerment and waste-to-wealth initiatives.
The Oram tribeswoman works in Surguja district headquarters Ambikapur and is a founder member of Swachh Ambikapur Mission Sahkari Samiti, a self-help group (SHG).
“I started work six years ago, when the then District Collector Ritu Sen came up with a plan to clean up Ambikapur city,” the 40-year-old Minj recalls. “Sen helped us in forming an SHG and arranging patronage from the municipal corporation in the form of an honorarium.”
“Gone are the days when sanitary workers were treated rudely, termed untouchable or their work considered menial,” she asserts. “Things have changed now. People respect our work and give us honour, calling us Swachchta Didi.”
Last year, Ambikapur was named India’s second-cleanest city in the under-2 lakh population category by the Centre. More laudably, the city has been awarded for hygiene consistently for the past five years.
And Minj, who supervises the cleaning, has had a big hand to play.
Minj, who is a matriculate but failed to continue studies after marriage, was initially dubious about working. Her children were young, and she faced opposition at home too. “At the beginning, the family was reluctant, but soon became cooperative when we fetched honour and awards at the national level,” she says.
The SHG’s financial cogs are now meshing smoothly as it recycles dry waste and makes manure from organic wet waste.
“We do door-to-door collection and bring the garbage to the Solid and Liquid Resource Management (SLRM) centre, where sorting and disposal is done,” explains Minj. “It’s a self-sustaining model, where a fee is collected from households and there are earnings from recycling and selling manure.”
It is through the dedicated efforts of these Swachchta Didis that Ambikapur was conferred the SKOCH Award for Swachh Bharat in 2015 and 2016. Thereafter, it was thrice adjudged the cleanest city in the under-2 lakh population category. It was also awarded the 3R Forum Excellence Award in 2020.
“The applause of the people motivates and encourages us to accomplish the work with determination,” Minj says candidly. She is justifiably proud of how she and her team have not only cleaned up the city, but also people’s mindsets.
