'Take Back Laadki Bahin Money, Just Stop Mehngai'

'We are happy that the money has come to us immediately after it was announced.'
'For once, the government did what it promised.'

Has the Laadki Bahin scheme won over women workers in Mumbai?

A meeting with one section of them, domestic workers belonging to the Mumbai-based NGO Prayas Ek Koshish, that has been working with them for the last 20 years, indicates that it has.

"We are happy that the money has come to us immediately after it was announced," said the women. "For once, the government did what it promised."

Interestingly, these workers were happy with the scheme despite describing it as an electoral gambit which may not be continued after the elections. "Maybe if this government returns..." they said.

So, will they vote accordingly, to make this government return?

"Only because of the Laadki Bahin scheme? No, we have our own loyalties," said Lalitha Sarote, a Shiv Sena UBT member.

The others too said the scheme would not be the deciding factor for them, even though they felt that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was "a good man" who needed to be supported "because he feels for the poor."

As proof, they pointed to the hospital he has set up in Thane in his mother's name. Run in partnership with the Thane Municipal Corporation, treatment is free there.

However, not all of them were enthusiastic about the scheme. "Not much is left of it once you pay for your gas cylinder," said Mangala Bawaskar, while Resham Shaikh said that Rs 1,500 would suffice only to pay the tuition fee for one of her two daughters.

***

Bawaskar, a senior member of Prayas, revealed that she had been telling other members not to be swayed by the money offered by political parties on the eve of voting day, but to vote for only that candidate who understood their needs and promised to raise their problems in the assembly.

So far, said Mangala, only two MLAs had done so: Rituja Latke, the Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA, who is again fighting from Andheri East, and Sanjay Kelkar, BJP MLA recontesting from Thane.

Though these women have been agitating during assembly sessions, and have even met the labour minister, they find few politicians receptive to their primary demand -- a law that would regulate their working conditions, which are marked by a lack of job security, fixed working hours, holidays and accident insurance.

In March this year, they invited all MLAs to their convention to ask them to pressurise the government to set up a tri-partite welfare board with representatives of employers, workers and the government, as directed by the Bombay high court in 2021. However, nobody turned up. Then Congress MLA Varsha Gaekwad sent her PA.

(However, since then, Gaekwad had met them, they added.)

***

This indifference to their demands is one more indicator of the low status these essential workers occupy. In fact, apart from their working conditions, what angers them most is the word "bai" that is used to address them and refer to them.

"Call us by our names, and refer to us as gharelu kamgar (domestic workers)," said Lalitha Sarote. "The tragedy is that our work is not recognised as work."

The discrimination they face at their workplace also makes them angry. Separate cups, and not being allowed to use the toilet are common experiences.

Parita Kalal's employer went a step further. "The other day I asked her for a carry bag. Instead of handing it over, she dropped it in my direction. I told her: I clean the kitchen you stand in; I clean the vessels you cook in. Yet you can't bear to touch me?"

Resham Shaikh spoke of another kind of discrimination: Hindu employers refusing to employ Muslims. She recounted how her neighbor Shagufta adopted a Hindu name after she was refused work after the lockdown, a particularly bad time for domestic workers, who had to sit at home without pay.

***

Thanks to Prayas, these women have started changing the mindsets of their employers. Said Ashish Shigwan, founder of Prayas: "Instead of pitting workers against employers, we thought of convincing employers to stand with us and jointly demand that the government ensure our social security."

This year, to their delight, some of their employers attended the March 8 Women's Day programme held by Prayas, and also joined their human chain on June 16, celebrated worldwide as International Domestic Workers' Day.

What do they expect from the new government?

"To bring down food prices," said all of them.

"Take back the Laadki Bahin money, just put a stop to this mehngai," said Suvarna Jadhav. Suvarna works in three houses. Her husband and daughter are both employed, while her son is in college. But despite three earning members, the price of essentials has made Suvarna wonder whether it was worth voting at all this time.

As an aside, some of the women revealed laughingly that they had been making the most of the campaign -- attending rallies of different candidates, and being paid Rs 300 per rally.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com