livelihoods

This is the first of a two part story looking at how women workers in the construction industry are disproportionately affected by air pollution and other work place related issues. Women workers in the construction sector, the second largest employer of women after agriculture, are disproportionately affected by issues like air pollution. Not only at their work place but also at their homes. Many women construction workers suffer from illnesses like breathlessness but delay treatment due to the lack of options before them. “There have been no studies carried out about the health impact of construction activities on the workers,”…

As another lockdown began in Bengaluru, the entire day’s hustle and bustle found itself compressed into the four-hour window from 6 am to 10 am. That's when even the most paranoid of folks leave their homes to buy everything from chicken to cigarettes to chat masala. Some are taken aback when asked to pay Rs. 100 for 5-odd cigarettes while others sigh as they queue up to buy beer at 7:30 in the morning.  Read More: Will your neighbourhood grocery store recover from COVID lockdown? My daily morning ritual was a walk to the main road, to buy newspaper and…

The economic slump from the lockdown threw many businesses into a tizz. But a few enterprising women in Ahmedabad decided to convert the lemons life threw at them into not just lemonade, but also profit from it.   “For me it was a golden opportunity,” said Beenoo Mukhi, Corporate Trainer, Founder of Eternal Quest, a company that specializes in sales and corporate training. “Lockdown meant meetings and sales were happening online. There was a felt need for trainers like me. Moreover, sitting in Ahmedabad, I could train people anywhere. The good thing was internet connectivity and infrastructure for online training was…

It had been over 25 years since Neelamma N Reddy went scouring for greens in Varthur lake.   The lake was a veritable buffet of greens and fish for her. She’d find over 30 varieties of fish and small crabs that could be scooped up from its banks. “Then, there were 4-5 types of greens we’d pick up. Some herbs, like Bassale soppu (Malabar Spinach) were used to treat constipation or piles. The banks had guava, coconut and jamun trees from which children used to collect fruits,” she says.  Bengaluru’s growth turned Varthur into a part of the city’s Information Technology…

Raj Rani, a 45-year-old household help residing in Kaimbwala, is a worried woman these days. Six months after COVID 19 hit the nation, her family income has halved and no new employment has come her way. “Earlier I used to earn Rs 10,000 to 12,000 per month, now it is down to Rs 6000 to Rs 7000,” says Raj Rani, whose case is typical of all labourers living at the margins of society. Her two sons, one employed as a driver and the second working with a local contractor, have also lost their jobs. As has her husband Ram Rattan,…

It’s been over four months since Abdul Sattar left Bengaluru, driven out by the lockdown.  “We will leave somehow, even if there is a delay,” he had said. That was when Cyclone Amphan was about to make landfall, on May 20. Still, Abdul and his friends were prepared to brave the long 1,800-kilometre journey home to Chak Lachhipur, their village in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal.  It had been barely a few months since Abdul had come to Bengaluru from Mumbai, sometime in January or February, he says. His wife Hamida Begum, 32, a homemaker, and their children, Salma…

Nagamma and Tirupataiah, a couple hailing from Kurnool district are waste pickers at the Kattedan Industrial Estate (KIE), near Rajendranagar in Hyderabad. Another waste picker, Shantamma took up this activity when she shifted to the area after her marriage.  Spread across 110 hectares, the KIE houses 450 units belonging to manufacturing, oil refining, rewinding machines, food processing industries. The industries provide employment to 10,000 laborers, and the total population of the area is roughly 26000, most of them living in the neighbouring villages. Industrial pollution -- primarily high concentration of mineral oil and metals in the soil, dust, odour and…

Manoj Kumar, 34, had lost his job even before the lockdown. With car sales taking a steep dip due to the pandemic, Manoj, a sales agent in the car loan section of the Kotak Mahindra group in Ghaziabad, was not among the lucky few who were offered leave without pay or the option of staying on with a steep pay cut. Initially optimistic about being able to find another job, Manoj soon found his hopes dashed by the countrywide lockdown. “I would read every article on how to make a living in the times of COVID, read posts or watch…

Even the remover of all obstacles, Lord Ganesha, has not been able to come to the aid of the makers of his idols this year. As Ganesh Chaturthi approaches, traditional Ganesha idol makers like Sanket Kumbhar, Dheeresh Naik, Haresh Mhatre, can only hope that the Lord will make the coming weeks less harsh. Looks unlikely though, especially as the government has restricted all public gatherings and festivities that the city’s various Ganesh mandals, their main customers, would normally organise. The numbers tell the story. “In the years gone by, all my family members would come together and make about 3,000-3500…

“No one likes to beg, people have started looking for other work; they will not continue to beg,” says a determined Tasvir, trying to mask the suffering and struggle of months and trying to find hope in the bleakest of situations. But does his community really have alternatives? Tasvir belongs to the ‘Pardhi’ tribe, members of which are scattered across Bhopal and its fringes. In an earlier article, we had described how the COVID-induced lockdown had brought them face to face with hunger and malnourishment, making them entirely dependent on the charity of civil society organisations. Deprived of their livelihoods and…