The sudden rise in COVID-19 cases this past month has again blurred the future of domestic workers of Harijan Basti, Gurugram. They are again living in fear—fear of the virus? No. This is a fear of discrimination, a fear of joblessness, and a fear of stigmatization, of being labelled as ‘Corona-spreaders’.
In the Needs Assessment Survey conducted in the month of February, 2021, with the women informal migrant workers of Harijan Basti, it was revealed that 60.1% of women domestic workers were removed from their jobs as soon as the nationwide lockdown was announced in 2020.
And now, with 3 lakh new COVID-19 cases, it is evident for the women domestic workers that history is repeating itself. Many of them said that their employers are showing no compassion to them. Instead, employers are removing them with no advance salary, no ration, or any medical assistance.
Yashodha says “I have been told by my employers that I should take unpaid leave for 20 days; they don’t want any risk for their family because of me.”
Another domestic worker who is also part of the initiative, Sapne Mere Bhavishya Mera (to build a Women’s Resource and Support Center) says “I was working in three households for my living. Two of them permanently removed me from work. I don’t know how I am going to sustain myself and my daughter in this difficult time.”
Even within the Basti, COVID-19 cases are rising. Many women and their family members are showing symptoms of this deadly disease. The sad part is that the majority of them cannot afford the high cost of COVID-19 RT-PCR test. Although government hospitals are doing free tests, the women (like so many of us) are fearful of going to crowded hospitals.
But even in this difficult time, they have not lost their spirit of coming together in solidarity. The strict restrictions imposed by their landlords for not stepping out of the building are also not stopping women domestic workers from helping each other. Women domestic workers are talking to each other through the phone. They are extending support by providing relevant information related to COVID-19.
Sarita, another domestic worker and community leader, says “This is the time for the Resource and Support Center and we must come together to fight back. We don’t want a situation like the previous year. We must support our network of women domestic workers.”
A WhatsApp group has been created where information related to COVID-19 testing, guidelines, vaccination process, home quarantine steps and more is being circulated among women domestic workers. As many domestic workers cannot read, the information is being shared in the form of audio recordings.
There are many domestic workers who cannot join through WhatsApp because of unavailability of smartphones. So a few domestic workers took the initiative of calling others who are not in the group to provide all the relevant information.
Basanti, who owns a shop in the Basti said, “We all are going through a lot. Why don't we cross this together?”
The present crisis situation has again curbed opportunities for them but they have not stopped hoping because they are unbreakable and unstoppable.