“Because [we don’t have] qualifications, they give us less money"

Devender Kumar Ranga, 37, begins his work day by collecting food waste from the university’s dining hall, lugging the 20-30 kg bin to the compost shed, 800 metres away. In the shed, he hauls dried waste into chopping machines. The odour—of food waste from a 25-acre campus decomposing—is overpowering. 

Students rarely enter the shed, which explains why Devender flinched when I walked in. At 4.30 pm, I interrupted his chai break, the compost workers’ only one besides lunch. The remaining hours—9 am to 6 pm—are spent running the grinder, storing fresh scraps, and moving older scraps to dry outdoors. Though he claims he doesn’t have “that much knowledge” about composting, his three years of experience shine through the information he shares: when scraps decompose, they lose significant water—50 kgs of peels become 15 kgs of compost; and the compost is better with onions. He smiles when I tease him about this. 

Within five minutes, I am peevish from the buzzing flies and rotting smell, worse in Sonipat’s harsh summer. “The body gets used to it. I’m sweating, but I don’t feel anything,” he says. While the workers are provided masks, gloves, black shoes, and safety training organised by Strabag (one of the companies to which the university outsources employment of maintenance staff), “the pay is less,” Devender says. In 2025, the university’s workers, students, and faculty protested against the lack of timely pay hikes, low wages, and wrongful termination—attributed to staff being employed by a different third-party contractor–-even condemning the university outsourcing its responsibilities. Devender’s wife, Anita, works at the university as housekeeping staff. 

Devender took up his current role when his previous job at a heat treatment plant, involving lifting heavy weights, wore his back out. Now, the load is lighter and is divided among three workers. But his goals lie elsewhere. “I am completing my 10th standard,” he shares. Later, he wants to join his brother in Canada to work. 

He works to earn a better life for his three sons. “I want them to be… educated, and not work like us,” he said. He spends Sundays, his only day off, with them.