The Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) appointed 63 community mobilisers effective July 2025 to supervise cleanliness operations and educate residents about proper waste disposal methods. They were tasked to work alongside health inspectors and oversee pourakarmikas' activities starting at 6 am. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 programme, they were hired for a three-year term with a monthly remuneration exceeding Rs 18,000. However, these mobilisers have not been seen in any HDMC activities for the past two to three months.
Role and Responsibilities
Shivashankar Aiholi, secretary of the Hubballi-Dharwad Ward Samiti Balaga Trust, informed Times of India that the HDMC hired these mobilisers to document instances of improper garbage disposal through photographs and penalise offenders. 'They were seen with garbage collecting vehicles and announcing only one sentence: Please separate dry and wet garbage from tomorrow. They neither penalised any offenders nor took any photographs. Earlier they used to be seen with awareness programmes conducted by HDMC. We have not seen them for almost two months,' he shared.
Mobilisers' Perspective
A community mobiliser, requesting anonymity, revealed that she was receiving a monthly remuneration of Rs 12,000 but the workload was excessive. 'Hence I quit the job,' she added.
Public Concerns
Prema N, a teacher in Dharwad, suspected that the community mobilisers were not adequately trained about waste disposal. 'Once I gave some dried vegetables in wet waste and the mobiliser insisted I put it in dry waste. Then I had to take a class for him. The HDMC is simply spending money on them. If pourakarmikas were sensitised, that would have been enough,' she commented.
Veerappa Arakeri, founder of Akka Foundation Trust in Hubballi, said he complained to the Prime Minister's Office stating that separation of dry and wet waste was not being done properly in the twin city. 'Mobilisers and recyclers were appointed with each garbage collecting vehicle. Probably HDMC might have received instructions from the union government. If they are deployed with other works, HDMC should keep the public in the loop,' he demanded.
Lack of Updates
The HDMC control room and its official Facebook page have had no updates about activities involving community mobilisers since February 17.
Mayor's Response
Mayor Jyothi Patil asserted that the community mobilisers have been deputed for census work. 'However, we will check and inform the concerned official to ensure proper work by them,' she added.
