A STUDY ON CHILD RAG PICKERS OF KODUNGAIYUR DUMPING YARD IN CHENNAI CITY THROUGH THE LENS OF HOLISTIC APPROACH: A SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

India is presently witnessing a rise in Urbanization and Urban population. The total urban population in the country as per Census 2011 is more than 377 million constituting 31.16% of the total population. Waste disposal is the prime issue of urbanization because it is not just an environmental issue, but also has a catastrophic effect on social lives. Waste disposal has created a new section of unorganized workers, namely the rag pickers. Chennai is witnessing the growth in slums and economies of solid waste segregation. Unplanned solid waste segregation is providing an opportunity for urban poor children to enter rag picking. Dump yards and slums surrounding them are hubs of rag picking as an economic activity. This study is about rag picking children in and around Kodungaiyur dumping yard and it aims to find their challenges through the lens of holistic perspective especially to analyse the socio-economic, demographic and health condition of them, to evaluate their developmental needs, to examine the perspective of parents of child rag pickers towards the issues faced by their children while indulging in rag picking and to assess the awareness level on Child rights. The study takes a collective development approach to understand the Socio-economic, demographic and health-oriented background of child rag pickers in study area. Additionally, the study also seeks the opinion of parents of rag picking children regarding their child’s development aspirations. After a detailed analysis, the study aims to arrive at an interpretation of developmental needs of child rag pickers. Finally, the study gives suggestions and recommendations to achieve their rights and holistic development through able policies