write a short notes on condition of domestic workers after covid
Answers
Answer:
Like her, many domestic workers across the country are just abandoned by ... IN BRIEF: ... her well-being since the COVID-19 lockdown that started on March 25. ... The situation for the migrant domestic workers is more critical as they were not ... washing machine or oven besides abilities to read and write.
Explanation:
Explanation:
Sumati (name changed), a thirty five year old domestic worker earns her living by working in five houses in a sub-urban area in Delhi. Everything was going well till the news of outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19). She is under severe stress as her thirteen year old son is suffering with a moderate fever for the last two weeks. She initially consulted Government doctors but dissatisfied with their treatment she shifted him to a private doctor causing huge burden on her pocket. Having gone through his case history and symptoms, doctor ruled out the Coronavirus infection. Now her son is under medication and stays at home. Sumati has to leave her son alone while she goes to work. She cannot afford to stay back at home and take care of her son full time as she is the only bread earner in the family of four (three children and she herself).
While at work she attends frequent calls from her ill son as he sometimes gets scared because of the news he follows about the Coronavirus on social media and news channels. He starts feeling that he is also suffering from same virus. A few times she was forced to rush to her home leaving her work in between to take care of him. She is having difficult time because of her extended responsibility towards her home because of son’s illness. She is afraid too because of the threat from the virus but asking for leave is not an option for her. She cannot afford to sit at home as she has to feed her three children.
Sumati’s story is not an aberration but there are many domestic workers like her who work in the same society and are worried for themselves and their family members. In an another case, Ruhi (name changed), twenty five years old, came to Delhi from Bihar recently with her two children in search of her husband who had left for Delhi only after a year of their marriage. He was working as a guard in a factory and used to visit village every six months initially. He also used to call Ruhi regularly. But, suddenly his behaviour towards her changed. She has not received any call from him for last one year. It was getting impossible for her to manage the expenses for her children. Then her sister, who was already working in Delhi as a domestic worker, asked her to come to Delhi and promised to help her in finding her husband.
After arriving in Delhi, she made all the efforts to locate her husband but without any success. To meet her expenses she also started working as domestic help in the same housing society where her sister was working. She lived with her sister for some time and then shifted in a separate one room house in a slum nearby. Ruhi is also aware about the COVID-19. Her employer had shared all the do’s and don’ts related to the disease. She is among the very few domestic workers who are still going for work. Ruhi won’t get leave, as she works for an elderly couple, and her absence will make the situation difficult for them. She hopes that somebody from their family would come to take care of them so that she can take leave and be with her children in this difficult time.
Both of them shared how their employers were luring them by various means to come to work despite the fear of getting infected of COVID-19. A few employers offered them space to stay while a few offered them extra money. In a few cases they had no other option but to continue the work. Some domestic workers were even asked to quit jobs in other houses but to continue working in theirs. A few tried to persuade women domestic workers to continue working by terming COVID-19 as myth.