Each individual is busy fighting a battle. Each day is a task to conquer one mental battle in the chasm of melancholy brought in this quarantine. Technology for the privileged section has proved a disposition to favorability to kill time. But ever wondered there is another fight to peddle of helplessness to be fought in anticipated-next 90 days where earning through ferrying is lethal in the voyage of upcoming series of rickshaw pulling which is a next-level attempt of survival from Corona but no one talked about survival from starvation.
Quarantine where social distancing is a topmost priority but it has different effects on rickshaw pullers in India. The coin flipped the other side to overview a different sect of society equipping nuances of natural disaster and the question is How? However, India’s unorganized sector is far more competitive, comparatively. A large chunk of people who belong to the rickshaw pulling where employment has always been questioned marked. Primarily France 24 issued a report on 26.4.2018 under the heading “Rickshaw Pullers Fade From India’s Street”. This news channel featured rickshaw pulling as “Back-Breaking Labour” where Maqbool Ansari who is 62 years old reported to AFP, “If we don’t do it, how will we survive? We can’t read or write. We can’t do any other work. Once you start that’s it. This is our life.” Also, Shodhganga picked up rickshaw pullers conditions under the heading ” Working and Living Conditions of Rickshaw Pullers” on-page chapter 5 stated the following reasons for rickshaw pulling :
1. Unemployment: National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) 71.1 %
2. Poverty: 17% World Poverty Clock
3. No skills for the other jobs-85% Quint reported as ~kaam hai kya? Kam hai kya?~
Not only this, Project RAMBO by Subhojit Banerjee where he discussed the problem of 8 million rickshaw pullers of India in the initiative to improve rickshaw puller earning. This project started from Jaunpur where the survey shows 23% own rickshaw by themselves costing 6 -7OOO where monthly earning is 2000-2400 rupees.
Therefore the malice of rickshaw pullers from which data collected was before the lockdown remained unnoticed and unprecedented in the news columns. But looking at prevailing circumstances due to pandemic, transportations granted to a halt. Police seem beating and public shaming rickshaw pullers. On the other hand, Ashraf Ali who pulls a rickshaw in Delhi told ANI that the outbreak of coronavirus made his earning goes down drastically which made us ponder on another circumstance who will earn their livelihood for their family. Besides, experts issued reports that pandemic would affect more vulnerable people. And rickshaw puller whose income was only dependent on employed sector employees who were their bread giver is all elapsed and distanced made them shattered. Another expert Gautam Menon of India Ashoka University reported to the Global news channel,” The really important thing is that to ensure the poor especially the people who are on daily wages who are to be supported through this period. The middle class will certainly manage to survive for 21 days but the people who on daily margins will find it difficult and it is imperative that the government is aware of that and takes all measures to deal with that.” In lieu of this Delhi CM says to CNN-News18, “Rs 5000 to be transferred into the accounts of taxi-drivers and auto-wallas”. But the statement is still not clear about the rickshaw-wallas who are already debted of loaned rickshaw also who had not been registered yet under the informal sector.
Recently, India Today reported Lockdown in Lucknow which hits daily wage workers specifically rickshaw pullers. Likewise, the government seems to take the initiative where Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath to provide Rs.1000 in the bank account of daily-wage earner but the reports, hearings, stories and official statements about the rickshaw-pullers are still blur. Rickshaw pullers who sweated blood whilst dragging passengers to a minimum of 10 kilometres to 20-25 km in the profuse sun and extremely chilly winters are in chronic despair of this pandemic. Question is the indifference phase of Quarantine where social-distancing is highly recommended to fight against the virus should be taken into consideration as supreme excellence or not? As far as reporters had witnessed rickshaw pullers who are mostly migrants from Bihar and UP have faced a challenge with no work due to ongoing lockdown.
Consequently, as a citizen what we should do? Either to sneak out in a fight for untold musings of rickshaw puller where we were ordered to sit and wage a war of conquering ourselves over a thousand battles outside as illustrated of rickshaw pullers.
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