While COVID-19 has exposed India’s crippling healthcare system, the people at the forefront of the battle against the pandemic are underpaid, unprotected and unheard.
The spreading virus has come as a wake-up call for the post-modern world that is moving swiftly into the uncertainties of time. Along with lessons of gratitude and acknowledgement for our frontline heroes, the global crisis has revealed the “known unknowns”. Workers who are considered “low-cost resources” have come to the front of the rescue lines. They include nurses, pharmacists, caregivers, teachers (as observers of quarantine centres), accredited social health activists (ASHAs), cleaning staff and gig and utility workers who continue to serve society with minimal payments and social security.
Unthinking hierarchies
Despite the interminable round-the-clock dedication, empathy and sensitivity required for providing these services, these are still portrayed as second- and third-class jobs. These workers face social stigma while performing their jobs because of the fear that they may infect others. Acknowledgement of their work is important but not sufficient. To give meaning to recognition, there is a need to reappraise the way we treat them.
The pandemic has unmasked the shining gloss of India’s social structure as a deceptive mirage. It has exposed the predominant social inequalities among the working classes, and the loopholes in our healthcare infrastructure and planning, as millions of workers are still navigating the crisis without a safety net. ASHAs, a crucial element of India’s community health programmes, are visiting homes for educating families about physical distancing and monitoring symptoms. They lack masks and personal protective equipment and are struggling to feed their families, putting their lives in danger on exiguous incomes.
Unlike other COVID-19 warriors, many sanitation works lack basic knowledge of how the virus spreads.
These extraordinary times requires much more than mere public appreciation and recognition as there is an absolute need for policies and insurance to end their social and financial hardship. These are essential to motivate them to remain in the workforce. The political needle needs to move to bring forth new pay proposals and social security measures instead of forcing the workers to reach collective bargaining agreements.
Each of us deserves equal access to quality living and opportunity. In line with the adage “every problem is an opportunity in disguise”, the global crisis can be tapped for its potential to make a paradigm shift in this social bailiwick.
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