COVID-19

Translated by Sandhya Raju ஒரு மாதத்திற்கும் மேலாக வீட்டிலேயே இருக்கும் ஊரடங்கு சூழலை, வேகமாக பரவி வரும் கொரோனா தொற்று உருவாக்கியுள்ளது. அத்தியாவசிய சேவைகள் தவிர அனைத்து பிற சேவைகளும் இந்த ஊரடங்கு நேரத்தில் நிறுத்தி வைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. சம்பள குறைப்பு, ஆட்குறைப்பு போன்றவை பலரை பொருளாதார நெருக்கடியில் ஆழ்த்தியுள்ளது. மக்கள் சந்திக்கும் துயரங்களை கருத்தில் கொண்டு மத்திய மாநில அரசுகள், கடன் தொகை, சொத்து வரி, தண்ணீர் வரி மற்றும் மின் கட்டணங்கள் செலுத்துவதில் சில தளர்வுகளை அறிவித்தது. இதன் காரணமாகவும், செயல்பாட்டு தடைகள் காரணமாகவும், தமிழ்நாடு மின்சார வாரியம் (TNEB) கடந்த சுழற்சியின் மீட்டர் அளவிலான தொகையையே இந்த சுழற்சியிலும் கட்டணமாக செலுத்தலாம், என அறிவித்தது. இரண்டு மாதங்களுக்கு ஒரு முறை நீங்கள் செலுத்த வேண்டிய கட்டணம் எதிர்பார்த்ததை விட குறைவாக இருந்திருந்தால், அதற்கான காரணம் இது தான். கூடவே, நீங்கள் அறிந்து கொள்ள வேண்டிய தகவல்களும் உண்டு.…

A study conducted in 2016 by the Tamil Nadu State Labour Department estimated that around 1.94 lakhs migrant workers live and work in Chennai. Accounting for the neighbouring districts of Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur, the number goes up to around 5 lakhs, making up just over 50% of the migrant labour workforce in the state. A vast majority of them have been struggling as they look for options to survive in the city in the wake of the COVID crisis and the resulting lockdown. Some have managed to leave for their home towns, but for many others who are hoping to…

In this series, individuals, citizen groups and RWAs explain how they have dealt with the COVID-19 crisis in a constructive manner. In the seventh part of the series, a resident of Jakkur describes how her gated community supported those in need. On March 22, the day our Prime Minister called for Janta Curfew, we sensed the challenge ahead was not going to end anytime soon. The Janta Curfew gave a sneak peek into the potential problems during the long haul. It also made me ask - what can each individual do to minimise these problems?   Around that time, my husband…

The rotis lay strewn about on the railway track near Aurangabad - a tragic testimony to the plight of the poor in our country. Having packed their meagre belongings, with a bundle of food to be shared among the many, they only wanted to go home. Yet 16 people ended up being run over by a train as they fell asleep, exhausted, on the railway track near Aurangabad. The price for a ticket home cost them more than they bargained for.  The issue of migrants wanting to return their homes has been as big a problem as the pandemic of…

In Varanasi, it is death that gives one that sense of normalcy. The rising flames from the pyres at Manikarnika Ghat on the banks of the Ganga are as much a sign of the city’s spiritual legacy for all Indians, as they are that life and times in this holy city are as ordained. When the flames die, as they have died now, it indicates that something has gone very wrong. The common sight not so long ago, on the stretch from Lahura Beer crossing to Maidagin, of a corpse wrapped in shiny shroud atop a vehicle, has become a…

“A young girl who tested positive for COVID-19 at Shanthi Niketan Colony of Madambakkam passed away,” -- this is one of the messages that was circulated widely among residents in and around Tambaram in late April.  The street had been cordoned off and police personnel was deployed.  Citizens in the adjacent neighbourhoods stocked up on provisions and did not venture out, even to walk their dogs. Citizens in the cordoned locality had to live with not only the threat of the disease but also a kind of social stigma, with even shopkeepers requesting them not to visit their stores.  But when…

The city of Chennai that was Madras has been in an unprecedented state of lockdown since the third week of March. It is of course not alone in this, for the rest of the country, and indeed much of the world is pretty much in the same situation. With the numbers in the city spiking of late, the Government has toed the line when it comes to the Central Government’s directive that the lockdown be extended by two more weeks – to May 17th. This is to the good, at least as far as keeping a check on the spread…

May is usually the busiest month in the arts and science colleges of Chennai as applications start pouring in, entrance exams are held and the admissions process gets going in full steam. Not this year.  Thousands of Class 12 students are still awaiting exam results, while some are even waiting to complete the examinations. Students studying for their Bachelors or Masters degrees are yet to write semester exams and the near future looks uncertain as COVID-19 cases continue to rise and the lockdown gets extended. What are colleges in Chennai planning to do in this situation? While government colleges and…

Kerala’s print media can claim for itself a unique distinction: It remains the most credible source of news and information for Keralites, and Malayalis outside the state. It is not just that it has successfully fought against the electronic and digital challenges. It has had to survive through severe natural disasters that ravaged the state these past few years. The COVID pandemic is only the latest of such challenges that the print media has faced, and overcome successfully. Nowhere else in the country have daily newspapers instilled the kind of courage and hope among citizens that Kerala’s newspapers have done.…

COVID is not a worry for Rajamma, a domestic worker living in the quarters given by her employer residing in a high-income neighbourhood of Bengaluru. Wearing a mask, she steps out every evening to buy essentials for the family that has employed her for 15 years now. Her daily shopping is mostly for vegetables and fruits while groceries are bought online and home delivered. Rajamma and her husband take care of the entire household work, which includes sweeping, mopping, folding clothes, drying and arranging washed dishes, cooking two meals and generally ensuring that her employer’s home is running smooth. Her…