No help for these helpers

By Ramya Kannan

CHENNAI, NOV. 3. For the 120 helpers of noon meal centres in Periyar Nagar area, life is a string of uncertainties. A heavy work burden uncompensated by remuneration, late payments and threats from senior officers are things that they have to put up with.

Though their long-pending demand of being made permanent was fulfilled, things are no better, according to them, as they have to manage with a monthly wage of Rs.590 (Rs. 490 for secondary grade helpers). They complain that there are problems in getting even this paltry sum. ``Every year for the last four-five years, we are unsure of when we will get our salaries. One thing we are sure of is that the salaries will reach us only after 15th or so. In October we got it on the 23rd,'' they complain.

``It is not fair, since our jobs are really demanding,'' the helpers say. Their task begins early in the morning, when they have to open the centre and clean up the area. After that begins the task of bringing children to the centre. Here again, the helpers say, they are made to wait at every house. Then there is a trip to bring the pregnant and lactating mothers to receive their supplements and the final trip in the evening to drop the children back.

Cooking is also part of the routine. There is yet another problem, as the amount sanctioned for firewood is not sufficient to procure the right quantities for each centre. Therefore, they are forced to go onto the streets to pick up various odds and ends to use as fuel. ``We pick dried sticks and rags from the streets, like ragpickers. To make things worse, the residents of the area think we are stealing from provisions and insult us,'' they add.

While initially, the children within 0-2 years used to receive merely nutritional supplements from the centre, they now stay on to receive childhood education, increasing the workload for the helpers and ayahs.

The scarcity of drinking water in Chennai has added to helpers' woes, as an additional task has been entrusted to them. They have to collect water from the metrowater tank in the area. If drought is a problem, the rains present yet another set of problems. The helpers and ayas bring children to the centres and keep them from running out into the rain.

Representing the cause of the helpers, workers of TN-Forces, a city-based NGO recommends that a minimum `reasonable' wage be fixed for the workers and an assurance of prompt payment be given by the Government. The helpers also urge the Government to provide them pension benefits and loan advances.

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