Toddler tied to back, woman sweeps streets of Baripada

Bhubaneswar: Plucking tea leaves with baby tied to one’s back is quite common in the tea gardens. But seeing a woman sweeping the streets of Baripada town in northern Odisha with her toddler tied to her back has come as a surprise to many, with her image going viral on social media and goading the district administration to help her.
Laxmi Mukhi (27) sweeps the streets of Baripada for six to eight hours a day, earning a salary of Rs 8,000 per month. Laxmi said her husband Tiki Mukhi (30) works as a daily-wager in Tamil Nadu, and that there is no one to take care of the nine-month-old boy. “Where do I keep him? Whom can you trust these days to take care of him?” she asked, highlighting the reason why she is forced to carry him to work.
“I had been doing this when I was pregnant. I have been doing this when he was barely 10 days old. As a working woman, I have to do this till he can walk on his own,” said Laxmi.
A native of Jhinei village under Chandua block, 15 km from her workplace, Laxmi stays in Sungadia locality of Baripada. Their six-year-old daughter studies in a government-run residential school and stays in the hostel. Laxmi’s mother Sanju (52) also works as a sanitation worker. While her mother-in-law died two years ago, her elderly father-in-law stays in their native village.
Baripada municipality chairman Krusna Nanda Mohanty said after Laxmi’s plight came to his notice, she has been given an option to work in a new locality which has a childcare institution, where she can keep her baby during working hours. “She has sought time to decide on the same,” the chairman said.
Krusna Nanda said since sanitation has been outsourced to a private agency, she is unable to avail paid maternity leave. “However, we have also talked to the agency to engage her husband at the earliest so that when one is working, the other can take care of the baby,” he added.
Doctors said it may be risky to expose the baby to the sun for long hours. “He may get sun burn. There are also chances of accidental fall. The baby may get dust allergy,” said Sanjeeb Mishra, a community medicine specialist.