By Daiaphira Kharsati
SOHRA: For a section of people, masks and sanitisers do not matter and so the government or local authorities concerned do not even spare a thought about their safety. But life is what it is for them.
“We have to work hard as we have no other option,” said Clara Khongsit without stopping her work.
Khongsit was among the 12 women, young and old, who were breaking stones along the Sohra highway on Wednesday.
It was a rainy day as Cyclone ‘Amphan’ was making a landfall in West Bengal and the women were struggling to keep the drops away by using a tattered plastic cover and broken umbrellas.
They were breaking stones as part of the 100-day work under MGNREG Act. After a short hiatus because of the lockdown, work started last week, they informed.
The women, most of whom are from Laitryngew village, told The Shillong Times about their plight but their countenance betrayed every word they spoke. “We are all job card holders and this is how we are sustaining. We get Rs 187 a day,” said Militi Nongrum with a smile.
Her co-workers also joked about their penury and laughed aloud. Hunger did not diminish their audacity to mock life that got entangled in a corrupt system decades ago.
The work starts around nine in the morning and goes on till the sun is up. “When the work stopped due to lockdown, we were all sitting at home, uncertain about the future,” said Khongsit, who is in her sixties but looks older.
On how they survived the jobless days, the women said they ate “whatever we got” and depended on the essential items donated by the MLA and the MDC.
None of them were wearing masks when this reporter spotted them and when asked, they said no one gave them anything. About sanitisers, their laughter was the answer. The workers have not even got any assistance from the government, which include the monetary aid for job card holders. “We have updated our passbooks but nothing came into our accounts. Some of us got SMSes about the assistance you are talking about but even they did not get anything. The SMSes were not real,” said Battila Lyngdoh. Another bout of laughter followed. This time, the joke was on the government.
Iarihun Buhsan, Meena Buhsan and Mary Khongsit agreed to what Lyngdoh said and reiterated that they have to work hard to survive.
It is not just about survival in the present but an arduous task of changing the future. That is why, all the women have ensured that their children attend school, at least as long as they can.