Delhi: Seniors risk Covid, brave joint pains to forage for the basics

NEW DELHI: Ram Chandar Rajak stoically bore the summer heat but shifted his body weight uncomfortably to relieve the injury ache on his right foot. It was a long wait of over three hours for the 60-year-old at Government Co-ed Senior Secondary School in south Delhi’s Nehru Nagar.
A jhalmuri seller with a bag of puffed rice on his head, Rajak said, “Though I cannot walk properly due to the injury, I have to queue up for free ration.That’s the only way I can get meals for myself since I have earned hardly anything in the past 25 days and my savings dried up in the first week of the lockdown.”
Hunger has driven many elderly people, like Rajak, to Delhi government’s free ration distribution centres. It also means stress exhaustion and discomfort for many of them, especially those with health problems. Rajak lives alone after his family returned to their native Bihar last year. “My 35-year-old son, Chhote Lal, was working in a factory, but he lost his job during the lockdown last year,” said Rajak. “He is now a labourer in Bihar and gets work three-four days a week. I used to send him Rs 2,000 every month to take care of my wife and his children, but lately I haven’t earned anything.”
Some old people come to the ration centres so family members can go to work. Sunita Devi, 61, said that her two daughters, both deserted by their husbands, cannot leave home because of their three children. She has been trying to get the free wheat and rice for a couple of days. “I don’t have a ration card. I am a diabetic, so it is difficult to stand in the sun for so many days,” Devi said. “I haven’t yet got the token for the free foodgrain and I am feeling helpless.”
Jai Prasad looked quite exhausted on Monday afternoon. The 67-year-old claimed he hadn’t had food or water for 10 hours. “My only concern is getting food for my family,” the old man said. “Otherwise, why would I risk corona infection with my low immunity?” he wheezed. Also left without an alternative was Shakuntala, 63. The widow said, “I have never had to work outside in my entire life and I have never stood like this for free stuff. But I don’t have an option. My son lost his shop job last month and is now a daily-wage earner. My daughter-in-law's earnings from housework have dwindled from Rs 3,500 to Rs 1,000 because families don’t want her to come any longer.”
Another widow, Asha Devi, 61, waits for the day when she gets back her job as a cook. “After that I will not humiliate myself standing in a line like this for hours,” she said. “My children do not support me financially, but I have taken good care of myself for 30 years. Once the Covid cases decline, people will hopefully call me back to work.”