For decades now, visually-impaired G. Kannan, 45, would meticulously work six hours a day, building sleek cane chairs and sofas. It would fetch him ₹4,000 a month. But for nearly four months now, he struggled to run his family, unable to step out for work because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With barely any money left, I don’t know how many months I can manage this way before I can get back to work. My hope is just dimming further day by day,” he says.
Many visually-impaired persons who made a living by making chairs and sofas haven’t been able to work. With the help of a few NGOs, they got some provisions but are scrambling for cash to buy medicines, vegetables and other essential items. “My 11-year-old daughter was studying in a private school and but I soon plan to shift her to a government school as I can’t afford to pay fees any more. I used to earn ₹7,000-₹8,000 every month, and that is also gone now. I haven’t even paid my house rent for four months now,” says A. Karuppaiah, 55.
For M. Elango, 55, getting medicines and provisions has been an arduous task since April. “With great difficulty, my son finished engineering and was working till recently. We thought that even if my wife and I lost our jobs, we could pull on with his salary. But now he has also lost his job. We feel miserable, worried over the uncertainty of the coming days,” he adds.
G. Ezhumalai, 50, says the main problem is that almost all of them rely on bus services; since buses have not been plying, they remain confined to their homes. But there will be other challenges when they return to work: how to maintain physical distancing and depend on others to cross the road to board a bus to travel to work.
C. Govindakrishnan of Nethrodaya, an NGO working for the welfare of the visually impaired, says the government should release fresh guidelines for persons with disabilities. “When visually-impaired people go out henceforth, how can they maintain social distancing? We always seek assistance from family members and neighbours. But during these times, we need specially framed guidelines for us.”