Started in November 2024, the “Enhancing Access to Entitlements, Livelihoods, Health, and Environmental Sustainability” project in Tirupati aims to uplift waste picker communities historically excluded and economically vulnerable.

The initiative is built around four pillars: livelihood enhancement through distributing tricycles and pushcarts; education support via Outdoor Learning Centres (OLCs) for children; health and social security awareness including occupational safety and welfare scheme access; and capacity building in leadership and better waste-management practices.

So far, three OLCs have been established benefiting about 90 children, while around 150 waste workers have been trained. On March 21, 2025, the project marked a milestone by donating 10 steel pushcarts to the municipal corporation and distributing 23 tricycles/pushcarts to waste pickers raising the total to 59. An awareness campaign spanned 21 areas engaging some 10,000 residents to promote recycling and responsible waste segregation.

Beneficiaries speak of significant incomes rising what used to be a few hundred rupees a day through back-breaking work has improved as mobility and efficiency increase. This model of partnership between NGO, corporate, and local government demonstrates how social inclusion can go hand-in-hand with environmental sustainability and offers a blueprint for similar interventions elsewhere.