House Help Unions Send Postcards To CM Uddhav Thackeray Seeking Government Aid Amidst The Pandemic

The economy has been hit hard due to the coronavirus outbreak and the impact is visible in almost all the sectors of the country. And while most of the government offices and private firms have demanded their employees to work from home, the work-life is still on halt for the majority of the domestic workers across the nation. With most people refusing to call back their house help for work, the domestic help Unions have started a campaign on Sunday demanding government aid of ₹10,000 on a monthly basis from the state, as per a report in Mid-Day. 

The Unions have made this demand for government relief for as long as the pandemic lasts. Since the lockdown was announced in March, the majority of the housing societies have prohibited entry of any house help in their premises fearing the spread of the virus. A lot of domestic workers have either not been paid since April or have been permanently terminated from their jobs. 

For the campaign, hundreds of domestic workers sent postcards to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seeking government intervention in the matter. The report further stated that on June 28, the National Domestic Workers Welfare Trust and the Maharashtra Rajya Gharkamgar Union had also raised a demand in support of the house help workers before the development commissioner of Maharashtra Domestic Workers Welfare Board. However, there has been no response so far. 

As per the report, the domestic workers have only received a limited amount of food grains and supplies from the government in some places, which is not enough for them to provide for their families. The workers are now trying to form self-help groups in order to get survive the pandemic.