Electricians, plumbers, part-time house helps and otherworkers took tentative steps back to work on Monday as large parts of India,including the national capital, entered the third phase of the lockdown withcurbs eased in some places.
As spring slipped into summer and the lockdown, which beganon March 25, continued, people waited eagerly for electricians to serviceair-conditioners, plumbers to repair washing machines and broken taps,domestics to get back for the deep cleaning that never did get done and a hostof other urgent jobs.
On the other end of the spectrum were the band of workers,trained in myriad necessary jobs that keep the household machine goingsmoothly, who found themselves without jobs and money.
Many of them, like Manoj Koli, an electrician for over 20years, said they were reduced to scrambling for food and the lifting of somelockdown restrictions will hopefully mean a semblance of normalcy.
I haven’t earned a single rupee since March 21. It will bedifficult to get back to work until electrical shops selling spare parts likewires and sockets also open. It is still too early to tell, Manoj told PTI.
With some electrical shops now open, that problem shouldhopefully be resolved. But I should get some work before all of that, theelectrician, who lives in south Delhi’s Dakshninpuri locality with his parents,wife and children, added.
The lockdown, to curtail the spread of coronavirus, has beenextended for two weeks till at least May 17. Several restrictions have beenlifted and several remain.
Declaring that the time had come to reopen Delhi, ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday evening, “Self-employed peoplelike technicians, plumbers, electricians, mechanics, sanitation workers,domestic helps, and people involved with laundry and ironing are allowed towork.”
Navigating the coronavirus crisis, which has pushed Indiansinto the four walls of their homes, has been traumatic for everybody, but mostof all perhaps for those like Manoj who depend on their everyday work to make aliving.
He said the pandemic could not have come at a worse time.
Every April, he would be flooded with calls for AC servicingand repairs from his clients and could manage to make as much as Rs 40,000 amonth.
This year, the calls didn’t come and neither did the money.
There are lakhs of people like Manoj.
According to Rajesh Kumar of the Indian Federation of TradeUnions (IFTU), the Delhi government does not have any official records of thenumbers of unorganised skilled labour, including plumbers,electricians andcarpenters. But it could be as high as six-seven lakh.
The government should have created a record of these peoplebefore announcing a lockdown. It is understandable that the lockdown has beenextended, but the government should have also been prepared with solutions forthe problems of all kinds of people in the state, the IFTU general secretarysaid.
Subhash Mohanty, a plumber, said he is grateful he couldprocure the Delhi government’s rations soon after the lockdown was announced.
There has been no work for the last one month. I got somecalls for work in the last few days, but I had to turn them down because thereis a coronavirus case in my area, and I cannot step out of here, Mohanty, whostays in Tughlakabad Extension with his wife and two children, said.
Bikram Kumar, who works as a carpenter in south Delhilocalities, said surviving the lockdown is getting more difficult each day andhe can’t wait to get back to work.
On a good month, he would make between Rs 10-20,000 a month,a part of which he would send to his home in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh districtwhere his wife and four children live. Since the lockdown, he has barelymanaged to make enough to feed himself and said he has been surviving onbiscuits and water.
Had there been public transport, I would have gone backhome. At least, we have produce from farms. Now crops are also gettingspoiltbecause nobody is there to harvest them, Bikram, who lives with his nephew inLal Kuan area near Okhla industrial estate, said.
The last few weeks have been an emotional and financialdrain for those like Kobita who came back to work on Monday to clean and cookin homes.
During the lockdown period, I tried to go to some of myemployers’ houses to collect my salary but was stopped by police. Today, manyjunctions, opened up, and it was a relief. I was getting worried that many ofmy employers won’t call me back at all, said Kobita, who works in ChittaranjanPark in south Delhi.
With no public transport, she now has to walk about 30 minutesfrom her home but is not complaining.
“At least I have work,” she said.
If Kobita, Manoj, Subhash and Bikram are desperate to getback to work, homemakers like Lata Srinivasan are equally anxious for them toattend to long pending jobs.
Almost every house is in need of an electrician who canservice their ACs, but most are wary about inviting any outsider into theirhomes for fear of contracting the disease that has infected over 42,000 peoplein India and killed at least 1,373.
The total number of cases in Delhi has crossed 4,500 with 64fatalities.
Srinivasan (68), is stuck with two unserviced ACs and abroken refrigerator in this heat and could not do anything about it because hersociety was not letting in any service personnel in.
Her 10 year-old fridge finally gave up three days into thelockdown, and since then she has been figuring out ways to prevent herperishable food from going bad.
I was buying vegetables once in two days, and keeping themin the open under the fan, Srinivasan, who lives in an apartment complex in IPExtension in east Delhi, said.
Her society allowed electricians and plumbers to work fromMonday but with strict instructions.
We need to buy masks, gloves, and sanitisers for thetechnicians. They need to fill up a form giving their personal details at thesociety office, where their tools will be sanitised, and then the employersneed to escort them to and from their houses so they don’t go anywhere else,she said.
With the lockdown being relaxed somewhat, she is hopingday-to-day life will become smoother.