JAAP BROEKEMA
CHAPTER 5
TRIAL AND ERROR IN PRIVATISATION;
THE CASE OF HYDERABAD’S SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
5.1. INTRODUCTION
Hyderabad, the state capital of Andhra Pradesh in Southern India, has a population of
more than 4.5 million, and is ranked the fifth largest city in India. As laid down in The
Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Act, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad
(MCH) is responsible for the collection and disposal of municipal waste in the entire
corporation area. Similar to most of the Indian Municipal Corporations, the Health
Section and the Transportation Section have the overall responsibility for these activ-
ities. The MCH has a total of 12,590 permanent employees of whom 7,150 are
attached to the Health Section. Out of these almost 5,700 employees are involved in
sanitation work (MCH, 1998a).Administratively the MCH comprises seven ‘circles’ that are further subdivided in 56
wards. An Assistant Medical Officer of Health (AMOH) heads each circle. This
person is assisted by Sanitary Supervisors who are in charge at ward level and manage
a team of Sanitary Jawans. The Jawans are responsible for the day-to-day supervision
of the kamatans, kamatees and lorry workers The kamatans (females) sweep the
streets and collect the waste, while the kamatees (males) dispose of it at the collection
points.This chapter is based on fieldwork that was undertaken from January until July 1999.
The objective of the study was to assess the nature and extent of private sector partic-
ipation in solid waste collection in Hyderabad as well as its effectiveness in meeting
various goals. In the appraisal I have tried to go beyond the familiar concern with
service efficiency and effectiveness, and to include the social and political dimension
of the privatisation exercise. The following set of questions guided the study:- What were the motives for the MCH to privatise a substantial part of its solid
waste collection services and what are the characteristics of the form of privatisa-
tion that was adopted? - What are the socio-economic impacts of this particular form of privatisation of
solid waste collection for the contractors and labourers involved?
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I. Baud et al. (eds.), Solid Waste Management and Recycling, 93-112.
© 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.