About Us

Our Team

Founder & Trustees

Nalini Shekar

Nalini Shekar is the Co-founder and Director of Finance and Special Projects at Hasiru Dala. Her passion lies in restoring the dignity of workers in the unorganised waste sector, improving their access to predictable livelihoods and providing social security for their families.

Over the years, Nalini has trained hundreds of waste pickers on new ways of solid waste management and helped develop their skill to become waste management professionals. In addition she has worked with state officials, students and citizens, creating awareness on the need for sustainable waste management practices and integration of waste pickers.

Before her work in Bengaluru, she advocated the need for rights of survivors of violence for a decade in the US where she was honoured by the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission, San Jose City Government and presented with a Certificate of Honour from the then Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In a career spanning 33 years, Nalini has won many accolades including the Kempegowda Award 2015, from the City of Bengaluru. In 2015, she was chosen as one of 100 women in India who have made a difference in the society by BBC.Com.

Anslem Rosario

Anslem Rosario is the co-founder of Hasiru Dala, and the Founder/Director of Mythri Sarva Seva Samithi, a nongovernmental, registered, nonprofit organisation that specialises in poverty and environmental issues, located in Bengaluru.

He also heads WASTE WISE TRUST (WWT), which is a nonprofit subsidiary of MSSS. Anslem Rosario functions as the Managing Trustee of WWT. Anslem Rosario holds a number of honorary positions in many organisations and institutions and main among them are, Co-founder of Hasiru Dala Trust, Trustee, Child Right Trust and Vice President, Consortium for Dissemination of Dewats Systems.

He is a pioneer who promoted Decentralised, Community-based Solid Waste Management, involving the resident’s group and integrating waste pickers in the late 1980s. He is the recipient of the “Ashoka Fellowship” from Ashoka Innovators, Washington, USA, and Environmental Award from Karnataka Pollution Control Board.

Currently, he is involved in promoting Integrated Sustainable Waste Management, Water and Sanitation Facilities and Ecological Sanitation in Bengaluru Urban and Rural District. He has travelled extensively in India and abroad and held the position of Regional Manager for South Asia for the Integrated Sustainable Support for Urban Environment Programme of WASTE, Netherlands, which operates in 18 countries of the world.

Pinky Chandran

Pinky Chandran is an independent journalist, researcher, author and waste
management campaigner.

She is the founding member of the Solid Waste Management Roundtable (SWMRT), a collective of SWM practitioners working on decentralised & inclusive waste management since 2009, Bengaluru and a Trustee at Hasiru Dala, a social impact organisation that works with waste pickers and other waste workers to ensure a life of dignity, since 2010.

She has co-authored Valuing Urban Waste: The need for a comprehensive recycling policy Version 1 (2018), Hasiru Dala; , A Mirage: Assessment of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and SWM Rules 2016: Wastepickers Perspectives across India, supported by Alliance of Indian Waste Pickers and IGSSS ( 2019); “Communicating the Sustainable Development Goals-A Toolkit for Community Radio Stations”, developed by SMART and Supported by UNESCO and UNICEF ( 2020). Garbage inspires her to write poetry.

She is passionate about community media, and believes that everyday people
should have access to create their own media, and currently serves as a Board
Member at Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation (SMART) SMART, an NGO committed to empowering communities and runs Radio Mewat, a community radio in Haryana.

In the past she co-founded Radio Active 90.4 MHz Bangalore’s first community
radio station, in 2007 which attained an exemplary status of being the most
inclusive community centered station in the country, before handing it over to Jain University in 2021.

Lakshmi Karunakaran

Lakshmi Karunakaran is an educator and a communication professional based in Bengaluru, India. She started her career as a telecom engineer but soon shifted gears to work first as a communication specialist and later as an educator. She is the program lead for the Parag Initiative of the Tata Trusts across India.

Over the years, she has worked with children experiencing social exclusion in government schools, special needs schools, remedial schools, and in disadvantaged communities. For years she led the Buguri Children’s Program at Hasiru Dala.

In 2017, she was an artist in residence at the Centre for Contemporary Arts, Warsaw, working on a project on children from abandoned mines in Poland. She was a fellow at the Arts for Good Fellowship 2019 at the Singapore International Foundation. In 2020, she won the India Reading Olympiad award at the Hyderabad Literature Festival for her contribution towards encouraging reading among children and young adults from under-served communities. She writes regularly for Teacher Plus, a magazine for contemporary teachers.

Arzu Mistry

Arzu Mistry is an educator and artist who maintains a high level of dedication and enthusiasm for art, craft, and design, as mediums for pedagogy, advocacy, transformation, and intervention for building sustainable, inclusive communities. Arzu has facilitated the education working group for Creative Dignity, A consortium of organizations working with crafts communities in India. Arzu is the founder of the Art in Transit and placeARTS public art projects in the city of Bangalore, with a focus on art as a medium for dialogue between people and the urban spaces they inhabit.

Arzu co-facilitates the Accordion Book Project and is the co-creator of the artist book Unfolding Practice: Reflections on Learning and Teaching. Her art and education practice connect teachers, youth, and families with place using memory, story, play, and design practices through inter-disciplinary education and public community art facilitation, integrated curriculum development, livelihoods training, teacher professional development, and educational research and practice. Arzu led the Creative Education undergraduate program and co-led the Public Pedagogy and Arts Practice Masters program at the Srishti Manipal Institute for Art Design and Technology in Bangalore. She is a fellow with Reimagining Migration and has taught with the Project Zero Classroom, the Future of Learning, and Arts and Passion-Driven Learning programs at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Arzu has a BFA from the California College of the Arts, an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and is currently pursuing her doctoral work at Teachers College, Columbia University

Srikant Rao

Srikant is presently serving as the Honorary Vice President of the National Association for the Blind, Karnataka (www.nabkarnataka.org). NABK is an NGO founded in 1977 that is focused on enabling the visually impaired to become self-sufficient and lead a life of dignity.

Srikant is the Founder and CEO of Affordable Business Solutions (www.abs.in).

Affordable Business Solutions (ABS) targets Small and Medium Businesses (SMEs) and offers them industry-vertical solutions built on Microsoft Dynamics and SAP Business One hosted on the Cloud. Prior to launching ABS, Srikant S. Rao was the Country Manager for India for BEA Systems, Inc., which established its business operations in India. In his previous assignments, he launched NCR’s Computer Systems business in India, established NCR’s Channel Marketing program in Asia/ China and managed regional product marketing and business development functions to launch and establish NCR’s PC business in Asia/ China. Prior to joining NCR, Srikant held executive positions in project management, materials management, marketing, sales, and business development with Microland, TVS Electronics, and Sundaram-Clayton Ltd. Srikant is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and has played an active part in their Alumni activities. He received the Distinguished Service Award from IIT Bombay for his contributions to the Village Knowledge Center project. Srikant has served as the Convener of CII Karnataka’s Panels on Education, Skills Development and Vocational Training and as the Co-Convener of the CSR Panel. He has served as the Chairman of the Government Industrial Training Institutes in Ramanagaram and Belthangady.

Chinmayi

Chinmayi is a dedicated advocate for informal waste workers, drawing on her expertise in urban planning, l abour policy and worker solidarity, she works towards building collective power among waste pickers—ensuring fair wages, safe working conditions, and gender justice. As Executive Director of Hasiru Dala, she works collaboratively with waste pickers, civil society, and government stakeholders to improve livelihoods through fair and dignified work opportunities.

Inspired by the resilience of the waste picker community, her leadership focuses on strengthening community-based organizations, promoting gender equity, and advancing socially just policies in the waste management sector. By fostering dialogue and participatory approaches, she helps develop scalable models that benefit both workers and sustainability efforts.

Guided by Hasiru Dala’s commitment to inclusive development, Chinmayi supports innovative, evidence-based strategies that align with national policies on waste management, social security, and workers’ welfare. Her work underscores the importance of integrating informal waste workers into sustainable ecosystems while respecting their contributions to the economy and environment.

Sathwik NN

“Working with children has added a new dimension to my life. I have learnt to be patient and trust that children are experts of their own lives, and all we need to do as librarians and care givers is to nudge them to look at things they might have missed seeing. If what they see excites them, they go all the way chasing their dream and passion. For me, working with children is also a very selfish endeavor of planting values of equity and justice among them.

Akshatha

“Given my educational background, choosing to work for Hasiru Dala was like choosing the other end of the spectrum. Career changes are never easy, but I was consciously looking for greater personal fulfillment than I have experienced before. This shift for me was absolutely necessary as I had to do something I truly believed in. I have been following Hasiru Dala team’s work for a few years now and have seen the positive difference the organisation is making in people’s lives. Each and every one associated with HD has this innate altruistic nature that is evident when you interact with them. This was indeed a major push for me to take the leap of faith and become a part of Hasiru Dala.”

Akbar Allahbaksh

“I identify myself as a Designer and Urban Practitioner with a specific passion for space design as a means for social change and ecological empowerment. I am best as a designer when working with hands, exploring material possibilities, in parallel with authentic community engagement. My work as part of the team of Hasiru Dala is with Housing, which enables me to engage with the various stakeholders with diverse approaches to affect and create change for the waste picker communities.”

Bianca Fernandes

“Working with Hasiru Dala’s team and its commitment to waste pickers has taught me that I aspire to make a difference and not a living through my work. It’s an organisation where equality is given the most importance. The joy and satisfaction of the work we do as a team and the bond with waste pickers has always driven me to keep going and contribute to the community through the work I do in Hasiru Dala.”

Nithyanandan J

“Hasiru Dala serves the waste picker community and protects the environment. Hasiru Dala serves to raise the status of the waste picker community by creating an identity and livelihood for them, and also works to protect the environment. I am very proud to serve the waste picker community and protect the environment along with Hasiru Dala.”

Adarsh A J

“My work at Hasiru Dala is with Recycling and livelihoods, as well as working with waste picker communities for waste management. All of my work is made better and more viable with Hasiru Dala, and I am able to spread the word about the importance of recycling and encourage others in our community to recycle responsibly.”

Ina Bahuguna

“Cultivating a world where recycling thrives isn’t just about sustaining the environment; it’s about nurturing livelihoods and fostering green jobs that empower communities. From waste pickers reclaiming valuable resources to entrepreneurs turning discarded materials into new opportunities, every act of recycling contributes to a sustainable future.”

Sowbhagya

“I’m so inspired by the nature of Hasiru dala’s work with waste pickers who are one of the most marginalised communities in India. I and every member of the team get the space for innovation and we won’t rest till we find solutions to challenges. Finally I feel we work to create opportunities for waste pickers to better their living and in turn , waste pickers provide livelihood for us.”

Archana V

“I have worked in several NGOs in the social sector, but when I joined Hasiru Dala as its second employee, I was fascinated by the waste sector and the contribution of waste pickers. The work culture at Hasiru Dala welcomes openness to new ideas, supports employees with guidance and provides them opportunities for professional and personal growth. Making sure that the community benefits from our work and the team has been our highest priority and working at the grassroots level has helped me witness the impact of these interventions and the sea change it can bring into the lives of waste pickers. I feel nurtured by the relationships that I have built with the waste picker community and energised by their love and resilience.”

Chinmayi

“As a Labour and Policy Researcher, leading the Saamuhika Shakti program at Hasiru Dala has been the perfect way for me to be a part of the organisation. The program empowers waste pickers to live secure and dignified lives, focusing on gender and equity. Every day, I am inspired by the determination and contributions of the waste picker community, motivating me to advocate for their rights and drive sustainable solutions. The supportive work culture at Hasiru Dala fosters creativity and collaboration, helping us develop strategies that make a real difference.”

Nirmala Shekar

“The past five years at Hasiru Dala has brought me much closer to the core values of the organisation. The rich experiences I gained across a diversity of work have helped me to understand the various ways that we can work to better the lives of the informal workers. Thanks to Ms. Nalini Shekar’s mentoring and the wonderful opportunities provided by the organisation to bring change at the grassroot level, I have transformed into a better human being.”

Location Heads

Anil Kumar

“I have now been associated with Hasiru Dala team for over three years. I was impressed by Hasiru Dala’s objective to work for the waste pickers’ welfare through social security and livelihood opportunities. Hasiru Dala has also earned a reputation for working for solid waste management practices in rural and urban areas with a close concern for nature. There have been no boundaries or limits to work here as I have had the space to explore innovative ideas to create livelihood opportunities for waste pickers families. It is my pleasure and pride to be a part of Hasiru Dala.”

Gururaj

“It is my pleasure to work with Hasiru Dala because of its vision and mission to work to empower the waste pickers community who otherwise would struggle for the basics of liife and living. Our intention is to create an environment that enables livelihoods and provides a platform for growth. Through Hasiru Dala I have seen a different view of life and become self-motivated to contribute to change.”

Manjunath

“When I first heard about Hasiru Dala, I found the name very special. Once I saw the kind of work that we would do, my respect only grew. I joined the organisation with a lot of enthusiasm. The love I received and closeness I feel with the waste picker community makes me very happy. I am thankful that Hasiru Dala has given me this opportunity.”

Chitti Babu

“As I have worked at Hasiru Dala I have come to learn what it means to be a trust-based and committed organisation to uplift the marginalised communities like Waste Pickers. I choose to work with this team of professionals since their knowledge matches their commitment. I recognised during my journey here that there is much scope to contribute and improve our skills and knowledge along with assigned work.”