Mohali May 8 A well-to-do man fears the virus but the labour class dreads the lockdown more. These days a middle-class man scours the newspapers to keep tabs on availability of hospital bed while the vegetable vendor still seeks a response on an end to lockdown. “Test karvayein ki teeka lagwayein ki dihadi kamayein” says Vinod a vegetable vendor in Sector 79 in a typical working class response. A daily wager in Mohali district runs the risk of losing half a days wage if he/she feels the need for a Covid test or vaccination. Those working in the hotel industry school bus drivers and conductors industrial labour housemaids roadside vendors and countless workers in the unorganised sector are living a life of uncertainty as their livelihood is threatened by the restrictions imposed through lockdown. “Corona does not catch those who sweat and bleed every day” said Ishaque a carpenter in Baltana. Ishaques fatalism is his health insurance his term plan and future plan. Even the district administration is banking on it heavily. A ventilator facility for a construction worker would be a wishful thinking — there is none in any of the government-run hospitals in the district — even the chance of getting access to a hospital bed is hopelessly faint for commoners these days. Their only protection against the virus is a mask. “It is not easy to do menial work with a mask on. But the employers insist so we have to wear it. Nobody wants to lose a job these days” said Bhanumati a housemaid in an upscale housing society in Sohana. — TNS

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