Lockdown relaxations offer hope to migrants who work as plumbers, carpenters

When Ram Vir, a 28-year-old plumber, set out to the Capital from his village in Bihar last year, he had dreams of a better life for his family.

When Ram Vir, a 28-year-old plumber, set out to the Capital from his village in Bihar last year, he had dreams of a better life for his family.

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He had to repay a loan his father had taken from a local money lender for his train ticket and stay in Delhi. His wife and children were also planning to join him in another year.

“Everything was going as planned until March 25, when the government announced the lockdown. I lived in a one-room set in Palam, but I gave that up to go back to my village,” Vir said.

Vir said that after the lockdown was announced, his panic grew after watching the news of thousands workers like him heading towards their respective villages. On March 27, he decided to follow suit.

On his walk to the Anand Vihar Inter State Bus Terminal, as there was no public transport, Vir was stopped along with many others who had thought it better to head home than stay in the Capital without work. They were sent to a shelter home near New Delhi railway station. There, he met quite a few more self-employed people like him -- carpenters, electricians, roadside car mechanics, all with no way to go home.

With cash running out, Vir was waiting anxiously for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address on Tuesday to get clarity on how the days ahead would be. The extension of the lockdown till May 3 initially came as a huge blow to him, but it was only on Wednesday that he realised that there was an exemption for workers like him.

An order issued by the ministry of home affairs on Wednesday, has come to the rescue of many self-employed service providers like Vir, allowing them to resume their jobs after April 20 except in areas marked containment zones.

Such self-employed service providers are not registered with the government or any home service companies. They are daily wagers found in almost every colony and lives on a call-by-call basis. There are no official numbers as they are part of the large unorganised workforce in the Capital, but a senior Delhi government official said that it could be around 30,000 to 40,000.

Unlike registered autorickshaw drivers or those who driver Grahmin Sewa vehicles, they are also not eligible for financial support of the ₹5000 provided by the Delhi government because of the lockdown.

“You have no idea how much relief this news has brought me. I will first get out of here and get a new room on rent and then start work,” Vir said.

“The centre’s order will be followed. However, the mechanism on how this will be implemented is yet to be devised,” said the official quoted above.

By mechanism, he was referring to whether they will be issued passes or the time of day that they are allowed to work, among others.

Mukesh Kumar, 27, an electrician, in north-west Delhi’s Rohini said with the days getting warmer, the demand to service and repair air-conditioners and other electronics is likely to pick up.

“I have already got a number of calls from my previous clients. I don’t know how much work we will get. There are some tools and spare parts that we have to purchase from different dealers. I hope the government will do something about it,” said Kumar, who runs a small electrical store in Rohini, and has a family of seven to feed.

Residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) across the city, however, have not yet decided on whether they will allow these service providers entry. Many have barred the entry of any outsider into their premises as the Covid-19 infection spread.

“It may end up defeating the purpose of the lockdown. The workers will go house-to-house carrying same set of tools and baggage, which can lead to spreading of infection. How will one ensure sanitising the entire house?” said HC Gupta, president, Federation of Ashok Vihar RWAs, who is also a doctor. “I will urge people in the area to take the services only when there is an emergency and wait for the regular repairs and other things till the lockdown is lifted.”

The state government has said that it will issue a detailed order soon on how the MHA’s order will be operationalised.

Suresh Singh, a mechanic, who works at an automobile repair shop in South Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar said that while the move to allow self-employed workers was welcome the government should also announce financial assistance for those whose livelihoods have been affected.

“It has been nearly a month since we have earned anything and even now the exemption is for a select few. There should be some financial help for us, so that we can survive this lockdown,” Singh said.

Tarun Pradhan, a senior researcher of labour laws and social structures at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), said that the relief to migrant workers will also control the possibility of another mass exodus from the city.

“When a person is not able to survive in a city, unable to afford basics like food, especially under such a scenario when the health and well-being of his family is also at stake, his natural tendency will be to run back to his home. The government needs to assure that these migrant labourers are safe and allowed to earn for their families,” Pradhan.

Meanwhile, labour unions feel that the relaxation should not just be limited to a small section of migrant workers.

Thaneshwar Adigaur, member of the Delhi Construction Workers Advisory Committee and secretary of Delhi Asangathit Nirman Majdoor Union, said, “The construction workers in the unorganised sector should have also been included when carpenters, plumbers and electricians are allowed. It is a matter of livelihood, as a majority of Delhi’s lower rung workforce has not been able to get the benefit of the Delhi government’s financial assistance scheme. They should be allowed to work so that they can earn their livelihood.”