With the country going into a lockdown to control the pandemic, city-dwellers, who depend on a daily source of income, are among the worst hit.
For Govindpuri resident Aruna Mandal (31), a beautician offering at-home parlour services, a three week clampdown was nothing short of a “calamity.”
The sole breadwinner of the family, Mandal said: “It has been a week since I stopped visiting my clients’ houses. For people like me, how can there be any work from home? Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the other day that the lockdown will be for 21 days and some are saying that it might get extended. The entire situation is very distressing. What do I do?”
The 31-year-old added: “I came to Delhi after my marriage and then I took up a beautician course so that I could earn myself and not depend on anyone. My husband has erratic work and so the income is not regular. I even took a loan and bought a flat recently and had plans to shift by April. Now all the plans are gone. The moneylenders are asking for their money back. I have no idea how I will arrange for the money if I am out of work for three weeks.”
Even though the income was “not fixed, it was at least regular and assured,” she rued.
“Usually, my days would start around 8 a.m. and I would come back home around 10 p.m. While there were days when I would earn around ₹3,000, at times it was only ₹1,000. At least there was a flow of income to the family. Now we are at a loss with no clue as to how to go forward,” the mother of a 12-year-old said.
