May Day heroes

First Published : 01 May 2010 12:22:00 AM IST

Lady Clean  
For the past three-and-a-half years, Leela’s days have begun with waste.
She joins her team of 13 Kudumbasree workers at 6 a.m. to collect the waste from shops and houses in and around the Chalai market.
They collect the waste materials, segregate them - biodegradable and non-biodegradable - and then load them on to the Corporation’s garbage trucks. “Initially, the work was a bit hard for me. Now I am ok with it. I can now easily manage my home along with this work. I get Rs 5,000 a month, which is quite a good salary for me,’’ says Leela, who is also the president of the Cleanwell unit, Chalai II.
Leela and her team works without off days. Hartals are the only ‘off days’ for her. There’s a catch, though. The day after hartal gives the hardest time for them as the waste would have started stinking.
The Kudumbasree workers have a uniform - a green coat over a green saree.
“It is so hot to use the coat in summer. But this coat offers more freedom than the saree,’’ she says.
“We use gloves while working. But they get torn after two weeks. So, we have to buy them regularly,’’ she says.
Leela lives with her husband and a daughter near the Attukal Temple. She wakes up early and does the daily chores.
Her working hours are from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. “I take food after work at 1 p.m. During work, we have tea and snacks,’’ she says.
They sell the iron pipes, sheets and steel rods, among the waste, and save the money to buy diesel for their vehicle.
“The Kudumbasree conducts medical camps for us every six months. There, they take classes and give free medical check-ups,’’ Leela says.
“We are prone to communicable diseases like fever. But this work gives us enough salary and the confidence to lead a decent life,’’ she adds.



Diligent Woman
Is night travel unsafe for women in Kerala? Women vendors at Chalai wouldn’t agree.
Shailaja, one of the vegetable vendors at Chalai, who has been going back after work to her house in Vellayani after 8 p.m. everyday for the past 15 years, says with a smile, “It’s all part of work’’.
While selling fruits at Statue three years ago, a banyan tree fell over her. “I can’t lift heavy loads after that. Two months ago, a coconut fell on my head, which has affected my speech. I can’t shout loudly to catch the attention of buyers,’’ she says.
Due to her illness, she has now limited the sales to pineapples, banana and drumsticks.
“There is a daily rent of Rs 10 for this place, which I have to pay to the shop owner. The price rise of commodities has affected the sale to a large extent. I get Rs 200-300 daily after paying the wholesale dealer,’’ she says.
Shailaja says hartal is the only off-day for her. “I come daily,  unless there is an emergency,’’ she says. Every morning, she reaches Chalai at 8 a.m. and works till 8 p.m. This 12-hour shift continues  without a break.
Various factors, including price rise and illness, have affected her work.
Though Shailaja’s son and daughter too work, she is not ready to give up her job.
trivandrum@expressbuzz.com