Waste-pickers groups and groups working with waste-pickers can become the members of the Alliance of Indian Waste-pickers. It is suggested that one or two members of the alliance should give recommendations for those who are aspiring to become the member. Further, one of the network members (or coordinator or convenor) is invited to visit the interested organization’s field of work to learn about their work with waste-pickers.
The alliance has a Programme Committee for taking the decisions. Some of the members of the alliance volunteer to be a part of the decision-making body. There is a deliberate effort made to ensure that the diversity of the network is represented in the programme committee.
The network structure is very loose. There is no membership fees. The members are encouraged to make a contribution in whatever ways they find possible. In past, some members have hosted workshops and meetings for the alliance members. They organized it with their own resources. In some meetings, members travelled on their own. Members have committed lunch or food arrangements in some of the meetings. This is considered as the contribution towards the network. The membership of the alliance extends to more than thirty-four cities and ten states. There are an online Google-group and few Whatsapp groups for regular communication within the network. Once the membership is accepted, the new members are immediately added to Whatsapp and Google Group for regular updates.