India: symbol of Bombay, the "Dabbawallahs" are on the brink of the abyss
Dabbawallahs on the streets of Bombay, India.
AFP - ROB ELLIOTT
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In India, these famous food delivery companies for companies saw their activity reduced to nothing with the confinement in March.
But despite the lifting of restrictions, they are struggling to resume service as employees now work from home.
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From our special correspondent in Bombay
,
Côme Bastin
With their white outfits, bikes, and metal lunch boxes, they've been a symbol of Bombay for over a century.
Every day, the Dabbawallahs deliver meals cooked by women to the households.
But the
Covid-19 pandemic
has placed their profession on the brink of collapse.
“From March 18, we suspended our services, in view of the significant risks of contagion. But we thought then that the coronavirus would be resolved in ten days. Our workers therefore found themselves in a very problematic situation. All Dabbawallahs live in slums. They have to pay rent, feed their families, ”
according to Ritesh André, spokesperson for the corporation.
In order to survive, some Dabbawallahs started selling fruits and vegetables.
Others have returned to the city of Pune, where they are often from.
But if containment is over in India, those who remain are struggling to return to work.
A hard blow for these salespeople who mainly deliver to individuals in companies.
“On October 5, the government finally allowed us to use the local trains again. But today most of our clients have switched to working from home. So where can we get our breakfast boxes delivered? Only 120 Dabbawallahs are working at the moment, against 5,000 before the pandemic
”, adds the spokesperson.
Himself son and grandson of Dabbawallahs, Ritesh André has a master's degree in finance.
He now devotes himself to this unique corporation in the world for which he launched a website and is preparing an application, hoping to save part of the city's soul.
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