Leading with Inspiration

Manjusha’s journey of leading a team and creating an impact in waste management system.

On March 8th, International Women’s Day, we can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to showcase the work of our first female lead Manjusha, who leads our ground team in Kaij of Beed district in Maharashtra.

Manjusha Kailas Gawli, a social work graduate from Nakapardi of Yavatmal district has been working with social lab since 2019. Her parents are farmers and have raised her to believe in herself and follow her dreams. She started her journey at Social Lab with help from an acquaintance. She joined in as a field team coordinator at Kalamb in district Yavatmal. Kiran Londe was the team lead there and helped her overcome her difficulties like communication with the residents and municipal authorities. She soon became comfortable in interacting with the residents and convincing them to segregate waste. Not only this she also started conversations with the safai karamcharis and motivated them to work efficiently and be responsible while working by taking safety precautions. Other tasks assigned to her at Kalamb were conducting corner meetings, SHG meetings, arranging home composting workshops and organizing activities for removal of garbage vulnerable points (GVP). This helped her for gaining confidence while communicating and led to her participation in weekly Municipal Council meetings. There she learned how to convince and put her opinions and points precisely in front of the municipal authorities. These experiences helped her step in the next part of her career journey in Bhoom of district Osmanabad in Maharashtra. Although the work here was a bit risky given the corona situation, she managed and could implement her prior experience. Her work this time was with the waste collection vehicles, she had to monitor the collection of waste from the quarantine households. She ensured that all safety measures are followed by the sanitation staff and guided them about the proper use of glows, masks and taught them the 7 steps of washing hands regularly.

She was placed at Kaij as a team lead in 2020 and this was a big opportunity for her to gain and learn as much as she can as the ground situation here in Kaij were totally different from the previous locations she has been to. But with the help of the municipal council and support team she is working hard to achieve her objective of getting work done in time. Also, they have applied for the 3 star rating and ODF++ certification and are ready for ground assessment. Starting as a field team coordinator and becoming a team lead of 7 members in just a year is really appreciable and we at Social Lab are proud of her. We hope she guides other girls and by next year March we can see more female leads ensuring and transforming the waste management system.

Contributed By- Ashlesha Karande, Communication Executive at Social Lab

Social Lab Environmental Solutions is a waste management company, which helps brands take-back and scientifically dispose of post-consumer plastic waste of their products. Brands take our services to fulfill Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligation under Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2018.

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