As Kolkatans debate the fate of the major political parties in the crucial panchayat elections, scheduled on Saturday, several families are facing the brunt with domestic help going on leave to exercise their voting rights.
Work-life balance hampered
Physician Shabana Roze Chowdhury’s domestic help has gone on a weeklong break. Leaving her in a fix. “I am a doctor and my husband is a lawyer. We have a seven-year-old son and for the last few days, we have been struggling to cope with household chores. Both of us have huge demands as far as our jobs are concerned. I am getting up early and reaching my workplace late,” Shabana said.
Krishna Mukherjee, a Behala-based homemaker, is facing a similar situation. Her domestic help has been on leave for the past two days and is likely to rejoin on Monday. “The maid cooks and cleans the house. Since I am a patient of osteoarthritis, I can’t stand for long hours and hence cooking for my husband and son is a big task for me. We are forced to order food,” Krishna said.
Samanya Sengupta, a Golf Green-based lawyer, has shifted base to her mother’s home in north Kolkata to cope with the crisis. “We are a working couple and completely depend on domestic help to run the household. My seven-year-old daughter is managing her classes and currently I have to travel all the way to south Kolkata to my office from the north,” she added.
Mandatory leave
Employers agree that no one can be denied their right to vote. Also, many of the help are allegedly compelled by local politicians to help in election-related work during the polls, which means longer leave.
“Also, this is an unorganised sector and there’s no proper leave structure, hence when our domestic help asks for leave(s) we usually don’t deny,” said Basabdutta Sinha, a Salt Lake-based homemaker.
Parul Mahato, a Diamond Harbour-based domestic help who travels to Kolkata on a daily basis said, it is mandatory for them to stay in their locality during and before the elections. “They are reportedly assigned several tasks by local leaders,” she added. Also, in case they aren’t physically present, there is always the fear of their votes being rigged.
Applications for leave and WFH
Many offices have received applications for work from home and late arrival to offices. According to the HR departments of some companies, this trend has been noticed for the past week. “Mostly, female employees are applying for leave. We are agreeing to WFH as we realise the situation. At times it is almost impossible for them to handle both,” said Subham Saha, an HR executive of a Salt-Lake-based software company.
