HYDERABAD: Once a cook who dished out delicacies at weddings, now a pallbearer for those who die of Covid-19.

This is the fate of several such daily wage earners who once worked in Hyderabad’s vibrant catering and hospitality industry.

They camp at Secunderabad’s Clock Tower, always ready to take care of the dead till they are cremated.

Every morning, at around 4 am, ten to 12 of them are picked up to assist in the task of handling Covid-19 bodies at the ESI crematorium by private contractors.

“I am a cook by profession but have been out of work for the last few months. I have a wife and four children to feed. For my beedi and chai also I need money. So I  decided to take up this work out of desperation,” says Yusuf Khan, who now works at the ESI crematorium, which handles Covid-19 bodies.

Another labourer, who hails from Vizag, said he was forced to take up this job as he was unable to go home due to lockdown travel restrictions.

“I wanted to go home for Ugadi but I could not. When trains began running, I thought of leaving but as I had no Aadhaar card with me, the authorities refused to issue a ticket to me. I slept on the footpath for several days and finally decided to take up this work,” he said.

But as far as earnings are concerned, the work they are doing is not all that bad, though the it might look loathsome to others.

The work is unsafe as probability of getting infected by the virus are quite high as they do not wear any PPEs. But they do not seem to bother  much as they get paid Rs 1,000 for each body.

The thousand rupees they get for handling each body is double the amount they used to make during the pre-lockdown days while working in small-time restaurants. “I want to work here for about 10 days, make Rs 10,000 and then leave,” said another labourer.

“There is a demand for labourers like us because of the steady increase in Covid deaths and also because of reluctance of others to take up the cremation of the bodies,” he added.

However, even as they assist the needy in performing the final rites of Covid-19 victims, local contractors and authorities are failing to ensure their safety.

Though the Ministry of Health mandates that those handling bodies must wear full PPE kits, these workers continue handling the bodies and ashes with their bare hands.