Abstract: Haritha Karma Sena has become one of the most prominent community-based waste management efforts in Kerala that connects decentralised governance of sanitation with the women's labour, local environment and public health. This chapter explores Haritha Karma Sena from a conceptual dimension using secondary literature which is built around three interrelated aspects—waste, work and justice. It contends that Haritha Karma Sena should not only be seen as a door-to-door waste collection system, but as a socio-environmental intervention, situated at the intersection of women's livelihood, community health and environmental justice. The chapter reviews literature from published studies and journal articles and available secondary sources and analyses the impact of Haritha Karma Sena on household level waste segregation, public awareness, women's employment, decentralised governance and a cleaner local environment. At the same time, it also exposes some of the remaining gaps, such as lack of infrastructure, low social status of waste workers, job insecurity and the risk of promoting women's role to low paid sanitation work. The chapter suggests the concept of waste–work–justice, where the transformative power of Haritha Karma Sena will rely on the incorporation of dignified working conditions, environmental sustainability, community involvement and gender-sensitive local governance. It finds that Haritha Karma Sena holds promise as a model of waste management that can work with the community, but the justice potential of this model can only be unlocked if women waste workers are not only service providers but also environmental agents, public health contributors and local governance actors.

Page: 137-144