Every Sunday, groups of 40–50 children in northwest Delhi put on gloves and masks, pick up brooms, shovels, and bags, heading to a park or a street corner littered with garbage. Most of these children come from migrant worker families whose parents moved to the capital for work and now rent nearby accommodation. Following them is Vinay Das, a tutor who lives with his wife, two children, and mother in an eight-by-eight-foot rented room in Vazirpura.
Since 2018, his young volunteers have cleaned about 250 parks, streets, and public spaces, and 1600 children have joined his mission.
The Tutor Who Gave Up His Teaching Job
Das began offering free lessons to poor children in his neighborhood back in 2013. Shortly after finishing his own education, he received a job offer as a teacher at a private university—a position that would have provided him financial stability, but he chose to work among children from slums and rented apartments.
This choice was shaped by his own childhood: his mother recalls that even three meals a day were difficult to provide. His father worked as a porter at a Delhi police station, and Das grew up in a small room shared with two brothers and three sisters. He started working at the age of seven to pay for his schooling.
Today, he teaches about 300 children, and some of his former students are continuing their studies in postgraduate programs.
From One Park to 250 Public Spaces
Das notes that the parks in Vazirpura once contained piles of garbage up to 12 to 15 feet high, leading him to conclude that children's education and raising their awareness must go hand in hand. On September 1, 2018, he led a team of 150 children who cleaned one such park, after which the children began playing there. This initiative then spread beyond Vazirpura as the team started posting its work on social media.
Shruti, who has been volunteering since 2019 and now holds a master's degree, says that residents have started reporting abandoned spots to the team. Initially, her parents pointed out that she wasn't doing housework but was going out to clean, but now they support her and sometimes participate in the cleanup.
Although 1600 children participate in his projects, about 350 people take part in the cleanups at any given time. The teams also plant saplings where there was previously trash and care for them for at least three months. Rahul Mishra, who is currently pursuing a master's in law and has known Das since school days in 2017, says that his parents initially did not approve of the idea, but now feel proud when people praise him.
Idols, Canals, and Dangers
Volunteers collect green waste, construction debris, and household trash, and also remove idols that people leave near roads or under ash trees. These idols are then submerged in artificial ponds or large reservoirs. Das, being a Hindu, feels pain seeing discarded idols, so his team paints messages on ash trees, reminding passersby that the tree is not a resting place for gods.
On the Munak canal, where he saw a large number of submerged idols, the team cleaned about three kilometers, and according to Aaj Tak, removed over 2500 idols. A recent cleanup extracted a Shivling weighing 30 to 35 kilograms from the trash, and state efforts are now also underway to clean the canal. The work involves risks, as volunteers found glass and needles in the trash, and chemicals leaking from one bag burned Das's hands.
How the Work is Funded and Why It Matters
Das charges parents up to 600 rupees for students in grades 1 through 12. These funds cover cleaning supplies, scholarships for older students who help younger ones, and the rent for a free library where children study and play educational games. In 2024, he registered the NGO Swasti Das Seva Samiti.
The need in this area is significant. Delhi generates 11,852 tons of solid waste daily but recycles only 7,611 tons, leaving 4,241 tons for landfills in Bhalswa and Ghazipur, according to the Central Pollution Control Board to the National Environmental Tribunal. ThePrint reports that fresh waste still arrives daily in quantities of 11,000–12,000 tons. Recognition followed: Delhi Mayor Rekha Gupta shared Das's Instagram page, and Mishra claims that 95% of residents in the cleaned areas become more aware and litter less.
Das states that his broader goal is for these children to carry out similar campaigns wherever life takes them, adding that he works not for praise.