Vendors, daily wagers in dilemma over social distancing
   Date :27-Mar-2020

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Staff Reporter :
 
Bhilai,
 
In COVID-19 outbreak, poor vegetable vendor Ram Patel still roams in various colonies entire day for selling vegetables in Bhilai. He heard of COVID-19 pandemic from his customers and already apprehensive when a patient of his neighoburing colony Khursipar Zone-2 was tested positive. Patel bought a mask, but social distancing- a choice in between his life and livelihood is unthinkable to him. “If I sit at home, I will lose my earning.
 
I have two daughters and one son; all are students and also loans to pay off. I earn around 8,000 rupees per month and 40 per cent goes as monthly instalment of loans and purchase of vegetables from wholesalers. Illness or its hope cannot be excuses to miss the earning. Every day of work counts,” said Patel. After diagnosis of many positive cases in nation including six positive at Chhattisgarh, Central Government has announced a 21-day lockdown from March 25 calling people to stay at home and asserting a social distancing of 2 meters as the only way to stop this spread of virus.
 
But is social distancing an option for poor people who work in an unorganised sector on per day work to feed their families? “The workers of unorganised sectors and daily wage labourers in organised sectors need their daily wages or earning to sustain their families and to afford food as well as nutrition. They work in crowded markets, construction sites and homes. It is extremely difficult for them to adopt the social distancing approach,” informed Gautam Banerjee, Social Activist and coordinator of Public Health Foundation of India Chhattisgarh chapter, a not for profit public health initiative. Like other states, informal sector is the backbone of economy in Chhattisgarh too.
 
As per figures of Chhattisgarh Labour Department, almost 91 per cent, that is 60 lakh people or workforce in State are informal. This includes agricultural, construction, manufacturing, sanitation, workers in shops, domestic helps and also small vendors like vegetable, fruits, milk, newspapers and snacks. They are dependent on per day income or earn and all of them enjoy virtually no legal safeguards, working in poor conditions, and living off measly wages or earn. “As there are no safeguards to their livelihoods, they cannot afford missing work. Staying home could mean no food on table for days,” stated Yogesh Jain, co-founder of Jan Swasthya Sahyog, a public health NGO of Chhattisgarh.
 
Even sanitation workers and sewer cleaners of all civic bodies are compelled to go to work with just one mask to keep their pot boiling at homes. It is learnt that, few days ago, Sonmani Borah, Director of Chhattisgarh Labour Department directed all sectors to not allow their contractual labourers to come for work and give their full month salary. “I have directed all sectors and if any one pressurises its employees to work, then severe action would be taken against management,” pointed Borah. Another problem is that many poor people live in small houses in slum areas where they struggle every day to get sufficient water. “I live in 70 square foot house with husband and four children. There is barely a place for us to sleep and then how we maintain social distance,” told Devkibai, a domestic help.