Lockdown puts railway hawkers in blind alley

Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com

Chennai:08.04.2020

As governments stutter around fighting an invisible enemy, the 21-day nationwide Covid-19 lockdown announced by the PM has come as a stumbling block to the visually challenged community that lives on the outskirts of the city.

Before the lockdown, K Dharman and wife Uganthai used to sell handkerchiefs on suburban trains. They were among the 120 visually challenged who eked out a living by selling fruits and eatables on trains until the virus outbreak brought train services to a halt. “We survived the 13 days of lockdown with whatever little we had saved. We don’t have any money left and we can’t earn. We don’t know what will happen if the lockdown continues,” said 30-year-old Uganthai.

At least 120 visually challenged hawkers live in Maraimalar Nagar

Families of blind in city stare at uncertainty

Their 10-hour labour on train, with their 18-month-old on their shoulders,would getthecouple₹500 per day. The family pays₹3,000 per month as rent for their small house. “We don’t have a ration card,” said the couple.

The card would have made them eligible for free rice and other state handouts. Dharman says officials visited their area on Tuesday and collected details about the residents. “They told us they were making arrangementsto give us lunch,” he said.

For the 30familiesliving in theblind people’s tenements (Parvai attoor kudiyurippu) at Maraimalar Nagar on the outskirts of Chennai, the closure of government educational institutions has deprived them of a source of employment. A few of them used to earn a living a little less than 500 a day by repairing wooden chairs at the offices and institutions nearby.

With all sources of income drying up, the residents are losing hope with every passing day. “Government officials distributed 5kg rice and half a kilo each of dal and oil four days ago after we approached the district collector. How long will it keep a family of five to six from starvation?” says a 73-year-old member of the community.