Former sweeper, represents city at national forum

AURANGABAD: Dressed for work, in a shirt, trousers and jacket, 25-year-old Kiran Borade exudes confidence. Kiran works with the

Civic Response Team

(CRT) for managing the solid waste of the city, in coordination with the

Aurangabad Municipal Corporation

(AMC).

She just returned from a four-day national-level workshop under Skill Council for Green Jobs. There, she and colleague Kunal Thakur represented the city. Kiran was the only woman among 26 trainees. She managed to amaze everyone with her sound knowledge on the subject.

“I was working as a sweeper with Cidco Waluj along with my mother-in-law in 2015 when I met CRT’s

Natasha Zarine

and

Gauri Mirashi

who were working with the Cidco administration on waste management. They invited me to join CRT. I didn’t know what to do back then, but I accepted their offer. I have not looked back since,” says a smiling Kiran.

A graduate in Bachelor of Computer Application, mother of two, Kiran has never shied away from hard work.

“After having two children, I could not find work befitting my qualification, so I took up the job of sweeping because I had to do something,” Kiran says.

"We used to get Rs 3,000 a month through the contractor until CRT intervened. After that we started getting our rightful Rs 6,000. Today, my salary is double that amount."

She adds, “Over the last two years, the kind of exposure and experience I have gained while working with different sets of people have outlived my expectations.”

As a part of her job profile, Kiran has to work with AMC’s sanitation workers in 13 wards of zone 7. The key aspects of her job are raising awareness among residents, training and hand-holding sanitation work to achieve segregated waste collection at source, documentation of waste collection and coordination with the ward officers.

“Kiran is one of our most confident and effective trainers. After her recent training at Delhi, we received a feedback from the facilitators that her knowledge and input greatly benefitted the programme. She emerged as one of the most confident speakers there,” says Zarine.

Kiran in thankful for her husband and family’s support. She says, “They understand my work requires me to be out of town and they are considerate about it.”

She hopes to provide good education for her children in Aurangabad and has no plans to switch her job anytime soon.

“I like working in solid waste management and the experience I gain is an added bonus. I feel that marriage or children doesn’t end your ambitions. Women should use what they learn on the job they are employed in. Knowledge never perishes, it helps you at every stage in life,” Borade adds.