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Sunday, May 11, 2008
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Forced to cut down on their daily food

Manisha Jha

In the face of rising inflation, life has changed little for domestic help

NEW DELHI: Twenty-six-year-old Meera Mishra, who works as a domestic help here in the Capital, undertakes an arduous journey of three hours on foot under the blistering summer sun everyday so that she can save the Rs.40 that she would otherwise end up spending on the rickshaw. The money she saves goes towards ensuring food for her family.

With inflation getting the better of the middle class, one can only imagine its impact on those well below on the social ladder.

Among the countless workers engaged in the unorganised sector, one of the groups hit most by the soaring prices are the housemaids and domestic helps, the indispensable cogs in the wheel of the typical Delhi household.

Labouring over household chores from daybreak everyday without any “weekly off,” these hapless women have nothing but their indomitable grit to keep them going in the face of abject poverty and inflation.

Most of them rue that while their salaries have remained effectively unchanged since they started working, their expenses have multiplied manifold lately due to the sharp increases in food prices, forcing them to cut corners frequently at the cost of their health and dietary needs and stifling of even their simplest personal aspirations. Meera, who hails from Begusarai in Bihar, says: “Owing to the high prices of green vegetables, I have stopped buying them altogether. My family has been surviving only on dal-roti for the past few months. I have also started substituting cooking oil with the cheaper ‘swabin oil’, but due to its bad taste my children often return their packed lunch cooked in it. Things have become so bad that this year I couldn’t even afford to buy a new pair of clothes for my son who turned two this week.”

“Unlike the lower rung employees in the Government,” Meera adds: “our wages are never regularised or increased. Even with rising prices of all food articles I have to manage my household expenses with the same amount of money. My husband is now planning to increase his work shift by a few hours to make both ends meet.”

Thirty-two-year-old Sheila Chalkar, who hails from West Bengal and works in Delhi as a housemaid, says: “Unlike in the past, I have been forced to send my son to school without any breakfast or money to buy food. I have also halved my son’s tiffin from two parathas to one.”

Since most housemaids belong to the migrant labour group, their voter cards and ration cards are based on their native home address and are of no use to them in the city.

Some who tried getting ration cards to avail themselves of cheaper commodities found themselves duped by corrupt middlemen out to exploit the illiterate victims.

Another housemaid, Zubeidaa, says: “I paid Rs.1,200 to a man who promised to give three ration cards for my family members. But after taking the money he vanished and we were forced to source our daily food supply from the local grocer at skyrocketing prices. Unlike earlier, when I was able to pay all my monthly dues at once to the grocer, I am now forced to take loan from others to clear my dues.”

“I often experience weakness and severe anxiety. The doctor has advised me to eat fresh fruits like papaya, but I can’t afford to buy any due to their soaring prices,” adds Zubeidaa.

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