We come from poor families and were born and brought up in a slum off Anna Nagar in Madurai. Our parents were daily-wage labourers and both of us had more than six siblings and we have always led a hand-to-mouth existence. Our husbands do odd jobs – sometimes, they work part-time as conservancy workers at the Corporation or do electrical and plumbing work. We try and support their earnings, and in fact often end up earning more than them. We are paid Rs.4,500 per month and the wages of our husbands vary. Our total monthly income is around Rs.8,000. We manage to send our children to school and pay the rent. A private agency hired us five years ago as house-keeping staff. We have worked in banks, offices and private firms before. The job has given us self-confidence and hope.
Being school dropouts, we are able to take home some money at the end of the day and that gives us a lot of happiness. Our work shift starts at 8 a.m. and we clean corridors, bathrooms and offices till 4.30 p.m. Sometimes, people tend to look down upon us as we do menial jobs. But this is our source of livelihood and we can’t afford to leave it just because the society doesn’t approve it. Both of us worked as domestic help initially, but that wasn’t very rewarding. As a conservancy worker, we are given ID cards and uniforms and we feel responsible. We have other benefits like PF contribution and coverage under the Government Health insurance scheme. We can also avail treatment from the ESI hospital. This gives us a sense of security. All we want is to bring up our children well and make them professionals. We don’t want them to lead a life of poverty and discrimination.
(A fortnightly column on men and women who make Madurai what it is)
