A scheme initiated by Sulabh International, a voluntary organisation, to bring scavengers into the mainstream by encouraging well-placed residents of Delhi to adopt a scavenger family each, has invited loud criticism. Critics call the scheme a gimmick.

Sulabh has approached hundreds of the la de da in the Capital to interact with scavengers by inviting them over for lunch or tea.

However, a section of those approached have taken offence to Sulabh's letter which says, "In this way, their (scavengers) association with the elite class is expected to change the whole lifestyle of scavengers." Says M Rao of Jawaharlal Nehru University, "Instead of striving for the educational and economic uplift of the scavenger community, Sulabh is resorting to gimmickry."