NAMASTE Cards for Waste Pickers: Occupational Safety, Social Protection and Formal Recognition of Informal Workers Social Justice, Urban Governance and Health GS Paper II, GS Paper III 4 September 2026 Read highlighted facts first n FAST READ — read only this box if short on time
- More than 300 waste pickers in Delhi's Najafgarh Zone received NAMASTE Cards.
- Beneficiaries also received Ayushman cards at the event.
- NAMASTE focuses on safety, dignity and social protection for sanitation-related workers.
- Waste pickers are crucial to India's informal recycling economy.
- Formal identification can connect workers to PPE, health cover, skills and welfare schemes.
WHY IN NEWS
- The Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment inaugurated distribution of NAMASTE Cards to waste pickers in the MCD Najafgarh Zone.
- More than 300 waste pickers were covered at the event, with Ayushman cards also distributed.
- The development highlights the need to recognise informal waste workers as service providers who face significant occupational and health risks.
TOP DATA & FACTS
- Event location: MCD Najafgarh Zone, **New Delhi.
- Beneficiaries**: more than 300 waste pickers.
- NAMASTE cards were distributed.
- Ayushman cards were also distributed among beneficiaries.
- NAMASTE is associated with improving safety and dignity of sanitation-related workers.
- Waste pickers recover recyclable material from mixed waste streams.
- Informal recycling reduces the volume of waste reaching dumpsites.
- Workers face cuts, infections, smoke, heat and hazardous-material exposure.
- Identity documentation helps connect informal workers with formal welfare systems.
- Personal protective equipment reduces some occupational risks but must be usable in real working conditions.
- Source segregation makes waste recovery safer and more efficient.