Lockdown impact: Unemployed fathers, abused mothers and daughters deprived of education Part-7 of our on-going series based on CJP's Purvanchal fact-finding mission examining the decline of the traditional weaving industry
08, Sep 2021 | CJP Team
As part of CJP’s fact-finding mission in Uttar Pradesh’s Purvanchal region, we held a meeting with some young girls from weaver families in Saraiya in December 2020. They told us that after failing to find work the men in their homes would often vent their frustration by getting physically violent with the women. Some of the girls were practically starving, surviving on only one meal a day.
Chandni, a young teenager, wiped away tears and told our team, “My Abbu (father) doesn’t have a job and stays at home. If my mother says something, he hits her.” She broke into fresh tears.
CJP ran a #CJPagainstHunger effort from March-July 2020 to help people during the Covid-19 induced lockdown. Determined to deepen associations with communities like Migrant Workers, Women led Urban Poor Households, and Urban Daily-Wage earners, we launched campaigns like #MigrantDiaries and #LetMigrantsWork. CJP also launched the #CJPfellowships to empower myriad marginalised communities. The Purvanchal Weaving Industry Fact-finding initiative aims to produce a report that will become a powerful analytical and advocacy tool further leading to programmatic grassroot initiatives to battle discrimination and division. Please Donate Now to help CJP reach more such communities across India.
The pandemic has hit the weaving community hard, but the women of the community harder, as they have become virtual punching bags for their frustrated menfolk. During our fact-finding mission we found that many women who would also otherwise contribute to the household income by engaging in allied activities like spool threading, polishing sarees or embroidery work, we also left without any source of income. This left them vulnerable.
Education of girls has also been impacted. Chandni, who lives with her parents and two brothers, is enrolled in school, but it is shut due to the pandemic. “I can manage school with work,” she asserts. The only silver-lining in her life, otherwise overcast with challenges, is that she had a meal today. Meanwhile, Muskaan, another young teen who was baby-sitting a young sibling told us, “I was exempt from paying school fees till class five, but now if I want to go to school my family has to pay.”
Another young girl shed light on the financial state of families saying, “Are we going to make sarees or spend the 10 odd rupees we make on household needs? Our fathers are unemployed, a private school costs Rs 30 per month,” she says, asking, “Are we to run our households or pay school fees?”
Her father too is unemployed. “When my mother insists, he goes and sometimes finds work helping load and unload goods. He never makes more than 10-20 rupees,” she says. “What do you think we can afford with that income? We survive on chutney and rice,” she says.
It is noteworthy, that this meeting took place on December 25, 2020 when the lockdown was somewhat relaxed in the area. However, even after all those months of lockdown and despite announcements of critical aid for needy families, people were struggling to put food on the table. It appears that many of the schemes announced by the government to provide rations and other essentials did not reach the people who needed it the most.
Related:
Lockdown impact: A Zardozi artisan vows to never teach his children his craft
Lockdown Impact: Crushing debt, mounting bills
Lockdown Impact: Weaver family drowning in debt
Lockdown Impact: Weavers forced to become tea sellers!
