By Matters India Reporter
Hyderabad, Aug 13, 2020: A Hyderabad-based center for human rights is training domestic workers for alternative livelihood programs after they lost their livelihoods because of Covid-19.
The Montfort Social Institute (MSI) is reaching out to more than 400 domestic workers, transgenders and the differently-abled to restart their work, said its director Montfort Brother Varghese Theckanath.
The institute also works for sustainable development and good governance education.
A domestic worker who has benefited the training is Mamtha who had lost her husband in an accident a year ago. She started working as a domestic worker to support her family.
She was left with no work after India on March 25 imposed nationwide lockdown to contain the coronavirus pandemic. The MSI livelihood program provided Mamtha a sewing machine, Brother Theckanath explained.
Mamtha currently stitches reusable cloth masks and sells them in the local market to support her family.
According to the National Sample Survey, India has more than 4.2 million domestic workers. Nearly two-thirds of them are women.
They remain part of an informal and unregulated sector, obscured in private homes, not recognized as workers but rather as ‘informal help’.
Domestic workers have been absent from the legal landscape of the labor laws of the country.
“With the nationwide lockdown, millions of daily wage earners and vulnerable groups have lost jobs and struggle to survive during these challenging times. Through these initiatives, we hope to bring them a ray of light and help them tide over the crisis,” said Brother Theckanath, a human rights activist and lawyer.
Earlier on July 21, MSI had launched a program for transgenders who lost their traditional occupations such as begging and sex work after India imposed the lockdown on March 25.
Five members of the community have started making and marketing ginger-garlic paste, an essential kitchen ingredient.
Through the livelihood initiative by MSI, a team of transgenders working on the production of ginger garlic paste and pickles has received the necessary license for the sale of their products.
Under the brand name ‘Quickles’, they are currently engaged in the preparation of ginger-garlic paste, free from artificial preservatives and fillers. They soon plan to expand their line of products to pickles and other kitchen essentials.
The first five transgenders affected are now making garlic pastes together and selling them profitably. More groups are currently forming and will start their income program soon, said MSI director.
MSI is committed to allowing people to find new jobs and make a living in the poorer areas of Hyderabad as countless people in India have lost their jobs due to corona.