Low wage domestic workers in Nagpur, one of the largest city in Maharashtra, says are struggling for food to survive due to COVID-19 lockdown that has taken a heavy toll on their lives.

In several interviews, domestic workers from the fifth fastest-growing city in the world described their ordeal and mounting desperation and anxiousness. Many of the respondents shared with Caritas India and HCL Foundation-supported project volunteers that the sudden lockdown has stopped their source of income and they are left to starve in this pandemic. Most of them pleaded to get some job so they can feed their families.

“I don’t have words to express how I’m helpless, I need some food or money to run my family. Will you please give me a job? I can cook for you, and serve good food, please give me one job” said Seema Yadav, a domestic worker from Jaitala area of Nagpur.

Before lockdown, Seema was working as a domestic worker in an apartment and her husband, a differently-abled person was employed in a hotel as a waiter to take care of their small family and educate their two daughters.

Everything was going perfectly well in Seema’s life, her family had enough earning sources to fulfil their daily needs and pay school fees of her daughters.

But after the COVID-19 lockdown announced by the Government, her husband lost his job and after one-month Seema was jobless due to surge of COVID-19 outbreak. The rent of the house was also not paid since the lockdown.

Unfortunately, domestic workers fall within the large informal sector where nearly 90% of Indian workers who do not have any recourse to law for safety, payment or welfare.

In April – May, they struggled for food and always looked for NGO’s who were distributing meals in their areas but every time they were not lucky to get food.

The program volunteer selected Seema for the relief support and assured that HCL and Caritas India will provide some food provision and hygiene kit to her. On 19th June 2020, Caritas India and HCL program volunteers reached out to her and distributed the relief material provided.

She received the food and hygiene kits and went home by taking all things on her bicycle with her daughter

In the first week of July, the volunteer’s team visited Seema’s house to get her feedback on the relief material received. She welcomed the volunteers with a big smile. Without asking Seema said “thank you very much for your help there are lots of items in both kits you provided, I got rice, wheat flour, pulps, oil, bathing soaps, sanitary napkins, etc. this is enough for me to manage the food for two months for my family. I got 28 bathing soap which I can use for more than six months”.

“Except washing powder, I got everything in this kit, but this is a very useful kit for me, Caritas India and HCL provided us wonderful help in this pandemic period, which is means a lot to me, Thank you very much”, added Seema with delighted heart.