When a resistor turns into an enabler the results can be game-changing. When DCM Foundation and FINISH Society joined hands for door to door waste collection and disposal in ward 21 of Hardoi city, under the Khushhali project the dice was loaded against them. Being the biggest ward of the city, the team faced many challenges right from the beginning. These included little support from local people, tardy waste management practices by the local administration and worst of all, the local populace were prone to dumping waste on the road or in front of their houses. When Project Associate Shivendra began to liaise with the local municipal authorities for support and to find solutions, he succeeded in stitching together a separate door-to-door waste collection team and even managed to get a waste collection van for the job on hand.
Shivendra and his team began to mobilise the people and launched an awareness campaign that highlighted the benefits of cleanliness and also triggered behaviour change activities. After some passage of time, most residents agreed to segregate dry and wet waste in the confines of their homes before dumping the same directly into the collection van which reached their doorsteps once every two days. The moment the van attendant would play the Swachh Bharat jingle, residents would literally pour out of their homes early in the morning and happily dump the segregated waste into the van. This activity started gathering momentum when people started seeing clean lanes and less stench and dirt on the roads in front of their homes.
However, there were some powerful residents who resisted this change and 

stiffly opposed Shivendra and his team’s morning waste collection drive. A case in point was that of Prabhakar Pathak, 47, a highly reputed lawyer who lived in the one of the poshest houses of the area. He lived with his old mother, his wife and his daughter, who herself was pursuing her MBA from a reputed college but his family was not willing to use the waste collection van to drop the waste accumulated in the house. Instead, he dumped the waste on the drain in front of his house or on the road in front saying this was his practice for over 20 years. Whenever the disposal van would play the jingle in front of his house, he would come out and shout at Shivendra and his staff saying they were disturbing his peace of mind. The waste disposal team would politely inform him that most residents were happy to drop the waste bags into the van but lawyer Pathak would have none of it. When Shivendra would gently request him to comply with the collection norms, he would thunder that he was an early riser and would dump his house waste before the collection van arrived and was more furious that the collection van would play the Swachhta jingle when he was busy offering his morning prayers. When repeated attempts to make him fall in line fell on deaf ears, Shivendra decided he would continue remonstrating him politely till he agreed.

One day a furious Pathak barged out of his house and angrily sought Shivendra’s phone number saying he would lodge a strong complaint with the municipal authorities who will show him his place. Shivendra immediately gave him the phone number but deep inside he was a little fearful since Hardoi is known for its strongmen, its strong-arm tactics and its roughshod ways.

One day a furious Pathak barged out of his house and angrily sought Shivendra’s phone number saying he would lodge a strong complaint with the municipal authorities who will show him his place. Shivendra immediately gave him the phone number but deep inside he was a little fearful since Hardoi is known for its strongmen, its strong-arm tactics and its roughshod ways.

Two days later, Shivendra’s fears came true as Pathak called him up, who, at that point in time didn’t lose his cool but gently asked him to come to the Decongested Solid Waste Treatment Unit, which is where he spent most of his time segregating and treating the waste collected from the homes. When Pathak reached the treatment unit, his jaw fell when he saw how the wet waste was converted into organic fertilizer and cleanliness-related wall paintings made by the FINISH team adorned the structure. He also saw that the 50-odd shops, offices of the municipal authorities and that of the Executive Officer were a haven of cleanliness and order. Awestruck by the beautiful work done by the team, he also saw that exotic and dying plants had been nursed back to health in the vicinity and the place looked like heaven on earth. Thoroughly embarrassed by his own rude demeanour, Pathak profusely apologised to Shivendra and promised to lead the way in transforming ward 21 into the best in Hardoi city.
Sticking to his promise, from the next day onwards, Pathak brought out the segregated waste and deposited it in the collection van with humility and pride. Today, he waits for the jingle of the collection van so that he can gently persuade dogged residents who are not willing to participate in this noble activity. No wonder, Pathak the lawyer has become the greatest votary of a clean and green Hardoi.