COVID-19

Report

Work done by sahiyar (women’s assocoation during covid -19 pandemic and the existing situation during this time.

The  pandemic caused by corona virus has spread across the word in 188 countries.even gujarat saw the out break and resurgence of infectious across the state in 2020.  This new type of disease is caused by corona virus (sars corona virus-2).In gujarat the on 19^th march 2020, 2 cases of corona virus were reported. The first case was reported in surat where a woman was infected the second case was repoted in rajkot where a male was infected with this virus. The virus which causes the respiratory infectoin covid-19 was first detected in the city of  wuhan, china in late 2019.vadodara city saw the first outbreak of this disease on 20^th march 2020. Where two cases on infected persons were found slowly the number of positive cases increase.

On 22^nd March 2020 Janta curfew was imposed by the government. Indian penal code 144 was imposed  This rule was applicable slowly in cities and villages also. On 25^th March the indian government decided to observed lockdown for 21days nation wide. A punishable offence  was registered against violation of any kind of rules of lock down. Again on 14^th April 2020, baba saheb ambedkar Jayanti the lockdown was extended till 3^rd May 2020 by the government.Till complete 20^th April 2020 lockdown was observed and cater on partial consessions were given in lockdown. Curfew was imposed in many cities and villages. On 22^th April 2020 nearly 2407 positive cases were reported in gujarat. 2125 active positive cases were reported out of which 179 cases recoverd and 103 patients died. These datas were collected from 28 districts.

On 21^st March 2020 the board member of sahiyar advised do not to visit office of sahiyar. During lockdown  the team of sahiyar decided to work from home and be in  virtual touch with the take center, saving cauter, jagruti group and counselling center and show them the way throught, and guide them. To be in touch with the ladies who had approached  our centers. We decided to observe the effect of lock down on women and kinds and we countinued our counselling of women. From 15^th to 18^th march 220 the workers of sahiyar contacted the ladies of (bachat mandal) saving association and the boysand girls of jagruti group and informed, instructed them about the government’s announcement and steps taken to combat corona covid-19 common questions, problems of water, ration supply by the government anganwadi were discussed .There was a feeling of horror ,fear,insecurity among people which affected the mental physical health of the people. It also had physical a great impact on the environment. The air, water,land pollution decreased considerable due to lockdown . the feeling of untouchability spreadin the world asit existed in old days. What women were kept in isolation during their monthly periods or mensuration cycle. People kept one or two  meters distance while talking and used various electronic gadgets and social media to keep in touch.

Fifteen members of the team sahiyar remained in contact throught conference calls and video calls.They read aloud and discussed the book ‘Nari andolan no itihas’.(the history of women’s movement) part 3 and 4 written by Dr.Trupti shah and work part in its group discussion. How to combat at personal level the pandemic of covid-19 through this reading of the book and groups discussions were discussed.what should be our plan of action and what strategy to follow ? were discussed. How to impliment  the work? How to be helpful to people? were discussed.

The CII foundation (Confederation of Indian Industry) contacted sahiyar to extend their help to the locals around the office of sahiyar. The members of sahiyar during lockdown purchased ration made kits out of it to distribute the ration among the needy and those affected by the lockdown. Their life was also at risk in the pandemic of corona virus and fear of police. The relaxation of og the lockdown and curfew was taken back or called back because the number of cases of covid were on increase. The government underlook the distributionof ration. The worker of sahiyar contacted the collector office,police station word office to get permissionto distribute the kit of ration spousored by CII. Ultimately the permission was granted by contacting different government  offices. We were asked to give the names of the recipient of the kit in theward office. Unluckily the work was stopped the very next day because one of the volunteer was covid positive with efforts of a good wisher We were able to distribute the kits of ration to the needy and affected under the  guidance of two officer of  corporation (mahanagar seva sadan).They were not able to be with us constantly due to work pressure of the government but the work was made easy due to their help. The rules of social distancing were followed al the time . The kits of ration were distributed from April 15 to April19 duringthis time we had to put a break on our group discussions and reading. We kept in touch through telephones.

• Discussions and experience with women of small saving group:

During the period of lockdown due to spread of covid-19 disease the sahiyar women’s organization had remained in touch with the women of small saving group nearly different zones, six small saving groups of vadodara.

In the middle of kishanvadi there is hanuman chok. the population of this area is nearly 1000. Sahiyar runs a small saving group along with it different activities are also held by sahiyar. Most of the population of this area in hindu, mostly marathi,gujarati and tribal people don’t get good quality of ration from fair price shop of the government .There in one Auganwadi and one government school. Mostly women go out of houses to work, men neither do any work nor do any household chores. Women shoulder double respousibities of out door and indoor work.

Due to lockdown women were left jobless and lost their monthly income so it was difficult to manage homes. The atmosphere of the homes became tense. New problems were faced how to provide for household demands? where to bring the things from? where and how to use the money which was scared ?How to save money? Socio-economic responsibility fell on women’s shoulder. They had to take care and worry about even small little things like:

1. The atmosphere of the house.

2. Take care of children / meet their demands.

3. The women whose husband was an addict, they had to bear their husband anger, fights domestic violence. Men were in debt because they wanted alcohol and tobacco products because they were addicted to it. When they their hands on domestic violence and demand food, beat children and women at home.

People committed theft due to unemployment in kishanwadi. There is an area called Ranchodnagar in kishanwadi. Where women do household chores like Clearing utensil, floor in houses around, they do stitching, tailoring, packing in companies arries, work in marriage halls to earn their daily bread. Sahiyar has started a small saving group here also men are  co-oprative in this area.

Due to lockdown people lost their daily jobs from where they earned their wages.  They found following difficulties faced by the women in this area:

• When their men were at home and were asked to follow their orders.
• Men never helped them to do household chores.
• Everyone was at home so their demands increased that added to the household chores.
• Husbands and chidren demanded more food and its variety and they found the ration and things were dwindling in number and quality.
• One women had her daughter and son-in law at her home they were a burdon on her . the woman wanted to withdraw money from her account in post but was refused and was told that the money would be delivered to her at home.
• The weather also become hot due to summer season which added to the discomfort.
• The addict men were uneasy but were quiet.
• Men who were an addict would find alcohol from any where.
• Men and women shared their experience and were mind free.
• In the month of April many women started their household chores.

Food was supplies in this area for the month of April and May by a group through sahiyar for nearly 200 people. Different delicious dishes were served four women who had already joined the women’s group and small saving  group along with their husbands helpd to distribute food in this area to establish social distancing from line to get food and see tht no one was left without food in this area. Their leadership qualities were devloped. They would look after the management of this area under the guidance of sahiyar.

Kabir chok area in kishanwadi:

Kabir chok is a shouty area, we discussed with the women of areas like Khatri Mohallah, Zanda chok. Due to irregular supply of electicity and hot summer weather it was difficult to live in shouty homes. There are nearly 274 houses or dwellings in this area with the population around 1000. There is constant problem of overflow of drainage in this area. Anganwadi is active in this areas. Like selling vegetables, do household chores in near by banglows like cleaning cloths, floor, utensil cleaning, tailoring, stitching work at home, do maids work at the time of marriage functions, marriage functions, marriage halls. they also work in sardar factory on wages, do cleaning and old jobs in hospitals, men also do jobs like colour-painting homes and earn wages, vegetable seller. Due to lock down everyone is at home. The work load has increased children and husbands demand more food varieties. grocery shops were near vegetable  were sold near by after wasing them. Nobody helped in household chores of homes. It was a joyous time to be with the famliy members. children would play outside the homes but would return home when they saw a policeman. They came to know that everyone got the ration except ApL-2 from the government fair price shop. The grains received from the government needed some cleaning. Everyone received the government aids. Those who had services or their own business got a regular supply of money as salary rest of them did not have jobs. The women selling vegetable earned money but the rest of them were at home jobless . The aid given by sahiyar was very helpful to them where there were more members in the family. We gathered following important points by discussing the situation with these ladies:-

• Ladies working in banglows, homes nearby were advised not to come for work during lockdown so they lost their jobs and only a few ladies were paid.
• Marriage halls, stitching were, packing was all shutdowns. So rendered jobless and without income.
• The women selling vegetables were not allowed to sell vegetables for longer time due to lockdown and police vigil. So their sale dwindled and income decreased. The money they had was spent in homes to bring things for children.
• There was an increase in expenditure during lockdown without proper income. The whole time was spent in making tasty food.
• There were some women who lined alone due to reasons like divorce, death of their husbands. But they had no source income. So they carefully spent their money. They would utilize a milk bag for three days to meet their needs. They would cook food only once a day.
• Men were not allowed to drink alcohol during lockdown.
• They were in debt as they borrowed money because they had no income. Their savings were nill.
• Women got help from their girl child but boys and husband were of no use and help in household chores. Men would do little work out of the house.
• The responsibility fellon this holdies of women. They thought it better to do work than fight.
• Most of the muslim ladies agreed that the expenses of homes increased during ramdan month.
• Muslim men went out to the job but women were at home jobless.
• Women watched Ramayana and Mahabharata episodes and rest of the times they were busy with household chores at home and had to watched the TV programme which the rest of the family members would watch.
• So, one women told that they did not have chance to watch TV because the children captured the TV remote and watch it the whole day.
• Some men were annoyed because they did not get the variety of food they wanted to eat so the women had to please them.
• Only 2 to 3 women were helped by their boys to fill water.
• Women had to try hard to keep the atmosphere of the house at peace.
• Women cooked pulses instead of vegetables .

 

In Ektanagar at Ajwa road people of mixed culture lived here nearly 900 to 1000. Pakka house and hurts are there who nearly 6500 to 7000 population occupied them. People lived on daily wages to earn their daily bread. People were worst affected in this area because the government aid either reached late or did not reach this area. Poor quality of drinking water supplied this area it was under red zone area. so people especially women faced a lot of problems. M.S. University extended their help through Sahiyar in this area to supply food to the people for some time. Those people who did not get the government help or aid were helped through ‘Annapurna yojana.’ Sahiyar prepared the list of the needy people with the help of leaders of this area. Sahiyar through different activities in area like Ekta nagar, KGN, Relief colony, Sangam Quarters, Sahara nagar and tribal area(adivasi mohalla) provided ration and cleanliness kit to nearly 200 families with the help of local leaders in the area. Sahiyar had to face many problems like dissatisfaction of people in this area because the supply of aid was less than the actual demand. Every one’s demands could not be justified and fulfilled.

Bavamanpura area near (in) panigate where mostly Muslims live there is a Vegetable market where women are mostly associate with one or the other occupation like selling vegetables and making handicraft items, homemade seasonal things are made to sell. pan masala were easily available.  Those who lost their daily wages job took to vegetables selling. They took precaution while selling vegetables. Government aid and supplies were received in their area.

Kishanwadi area Jayambe nagar where hindu and muslims both live in this area.  There are fine lanes nearly 160 houses are there which is nearly 820 people out of which on 17 houses and 105 people could be approached.  The month of Ramadhan was going on. So women faced more difficulties to the houses during lockdown period.  All the savings were used up.  They had to borrow money to run their homes.  The house hold chores were done mostly by women without any help from the male members of the house but it was no use fighting during such hard times.

Conselling centers:

We talked with nearly 45 women at the center.  Through them we cause to know that people had  lost their jobs of daily wages. Things   of daily use were available near their houses, men usually went out of their homes but they wore mask and to frequently washed their hands with sops.  The expenses of home increase but the income decreased.  Everyone got the government aid of ration and kits distribution. Women were given a aids by the temples and their community of food grains.  The intemacy between husband and wife incecased but due to the presence of other family members in the house they could not Spend quality time with each other men demanded more physical, sexual satisfaction but were not forced either Those women who were in their fathers home could not  satisfy the sexual needs of their partners which created the atmosphere of anger and tension many times men became more violent when their sexual demands could not be satisfied due to the presence of elders and children in their small homes.  There was a rise in the graph of domestic violence which created tensions for women. which adverse affected the health of the women.  They did not get any help in domestic chores from men Women had to be the brunt of lockdown.  Other women of the house like daughters were of great help. Men got grocery from outside. Only women brought the government aid of ration by standing in line. some times they saw T.v.  serials of their choice but many houses did not have a TV set. They did not get the news papers to read.  Many women went to their parental homes with their children because men did not pay for daily needs. sometimes even they were accompanied with their husbands. The in laws were not rich but still they would make non - veg - food items, to feed their son - in - law.  Father's did take  care of children, They all knew about corona virus and did follow rules of Lockdown. They used to do all household work by themselves but women did not report about domestic violence as their men were understanding and good.

Jagruti Juth:

We talked to nearly 36 young girls who had joined jagruti juth during lockdown.  They reported that the household work was done only by girls and women of the house. Ration, heavy things were carried women by the women of the houses. There was shortage  money. It was difficult to run the house. There was domestic violence among men and women of the house due to money crisis. To run the house was the sole responsibility of the women. The girls did not like the government decision of mass promotion. They felt that they had worked hard throughout the year so the decision of mass promotion was not justified. Girls learnt many traditional way of running the house. A girl had made a beautiful drawing during this period is given below.

Tech center:

Nearly 17 girls and 20 boys total is 37 are trainee in this center. When we talked to them, they informed us that the boys don’t help to do household chores.  They used to play indoor games like cards, carom and  badminton etc. games  Boys used to hear news on TV mobile. They were partially aware of the corona virus pandemic.  They did not go out of fear of corona virus.  They did not have vegetable vendoes around their house nor was there any milk center.  They made tea out of milk powder. Those who left for their villages got these facilities.  Their parents had lost their jobs but could meet their daily needs by the kit of ration supplied by Sahiyar.  They were happy to get the helping hand of Sahiyar in tough Crisis of life when even relative could help them.

Lockdown and women:

Women Prime ministers of the countries like NewZeland, Finland etc. were reported more successful in pinning down pandemic of corona virus than men prime ministers. Less death were reported due to corona virus in these countries. They were more caring, loving. Lockdown was imposed at the same time by India and New Zealand instantly it was imposed by 21 days built was different to control the spread of corona virus in India whereas the situation in Newzeland was under control because there is a vast difference between the populations of the two countries.

The population of Newzeland understood the meaning of isolation and followed it seriously. The workers returned to their home town and faced many difficulties due to lack of facilities. There was seen lack of awareness among educated people which resulted in increased cases of corona virus.  The corona infected person was treated like an enemy in the house.  The same was seen in social, religious groups. The areas with majority of the muslim population were looked upon as an enemy of the society. Those who had their business in muslim area were asked to go there. This created a feeling of insecurity; their mental health was also affected because they could not operate their business to run the family due to a particular religious group.

Women's responsibility increased they had to fight  on two levels, they have to look  after the family member at home and go out and find a job like doing household chores of cleaning and washing. The income of the house decreased because men lost their jobs due to lockdown but their demands of food increased at home.  It was difficult to make both ends meet due to decreasing in family income.  Women made the children understand the Crisis during lockdown. The workers returned to their hometowns and had face many difficulties. They were asked to stay where ever they are. They stayed there for sometimes but due to lack of food and provisions of their daily needs they left for their native place. Many workers walked for miles together on foot along with their wife and children.  Sometimes only woman was spotted walking alone with a satched and small kids.  It was a negative projection of our nation which haunted our minds and said somewhere we had failed in the mission of Lockdown.  These workers did not get any facility on their way home some of the workers died on the way due to stress, strain, heart attack, exertion, sickness. some of them died due to starvation. The situation was heartfelt and critical.  The planning of   government officers also failed here  Only women came out victorious and proved to be   successful managers of the house to handle their socio-economic affairs of their homes and maintain because peace and good health of their families who fought like unrecognized warriors and managers of their homes. A few messages were seen praising the skills of some women but if women were included in government planning and management to fight the corona virus then we could have had better results if their skill were utilized properly.  It is observed that women primrminister were better managers which proves that women could handle the situation better and handle the situation skillfully but in patriachal society women's skill are innoticed and less exploited & unexplored. Their contribution is Priceless.  women have played their role inevery walk of life but their struggle and questions went unnoticed of single women, prostitutes or womens holding various places of responsibilities. women who have lived in the confinement of four walls have come out of the homes to create  good house,  family, society and have become an architect of the nation and the world but the society takes women's efforts for granted and forgets her contribution. Women spend her whole life to the society still her conditions remain weak and fragile especially the women  working as a daily wage earner faces more problems to meet both the ends of life because even during her menstruation period she is not given rest but work hard to walk on road,  the pregnant women with small kinds their  difficulties and critical conditions went unheard is very shameful for the society and nation: Poverty, helplessne,  The words used for such workers when they left for their native place like retreat, escapade made their conditions more painful. Thewhole economy of the society rest on the shoulder’s of these workers but many companies and institutions threw them out of work, did not pay them wages or were under paid. Women working an unorganised areas were worst affected.

These workers had come to cities to find jobs now were moving back to their native place due to the worst, adverse conditions created due to lockdown. It was a reverse migration women are prefered because they are under paid this is how they are exploited economically also.

Similarly the contribution of women who are looking after household is also very important in success of lockdown. They have balanced everything, house, husband, children and elderly care. Even teenagers and young children have adopted with new situation otherwise habituated by with junk food and various demand those young folk also need to be appreciated in adjusting themselves in new situation.

During lockdown responsibility of work drastically increased on part of women belonging to all class caste and religious faith have to adjust with continue household chores in fulfillment  of demands of everyone in one household, particularly of in laws women have hardly got any chance to speak, they had to listen everyone. Those who were from poor economic condition for them managing money was a real problem while in middle and upper classes demand for various food recipes increased kitchen burden for women. They had to manage online studies of children. Mothers of young kids were anxious about unwanted porn like websites while their kids were studying online; they had to accompany them while studying.

When we are discussing situation of working women these middle class women were continuously associated in “work from home” during lockdown. These women had to work very fast, their brain had to keep pace with hands of clock right from the moment they wake up they must not have came across two words “peace” and “rest” while doing “work from home” their whole daily routine was full of double work ; of office and household chores support system in terms of domestic  worker was not available right from morning women were busy with preparation off  tea-breakfast and lunch, cleaning mopping, laundry and so on, along with office work. They hardly got any break and were got exploited between demands of office work and household work. A woman who was preparing food for everyone got hardly sufficient time to eat for herself.

Due to multitasking and dual responsibility they were tired mentally as well as physically. Earlier while working in office they were mentally free from responsibility of home, but in lockdown both continue hand in hand resulting   pressure and burden for women.

In our society social and household both responsibilities are traditionally considered as women’s responsibility, whether she is a working women or a home manager. If she cannot fulfill any of two she started feeling guilty which badly affect her mental health. In this mental situation anger, discontent, displeasure, uneasiness, fatigue, exhaustion, sudden gain or loss of weight were experienced by many women.

Online education of kids brought many more responsibility. A working mom has to manage studies of her children  studding from which chapter/video, home assignments and how to keep young one’s busy one side office persons demanded to even work on weekends to balance what work was delayed in new situation and due to everything by telephone and internet speed of work was reduced. These ultimately resulted in extension of working hours.

When we discuss various appreciation of personnel like doctors, police and cleaners we have observed women folk like nurses woman police constables were marginalized obviously women have worked by taking risk of health during this pandemic but they have not grain enough appreciation compare to their male do worker generally it is considered that a government servant is doing his/her duty and getting salary for the same. But women teachers, aasha workers, anganwadi workers have performed very major role but were not so highlighted by media as were the male persons with a higher post in hierarchy.

In family also there lesion was prevailing in man-woman relationship, due to unavailability of birth control means tension of unwanted pregnancy, if get pregnant unwanted termination of pregnancy or unwanted child all were a woman’s burden.  All these resulted in a type of violence. We could this observe different type of struggle of woman during this pandemics.

In this time of worldwide pandemic whatever policy decisions regarding health care are taken experience and suggestions of women must be taken into account and that will result a better policy for broader society.