Crematorium workers not ‘Corona Warriors’ in Vadodara

On May 12, the Vijay Rupani government in Gujarat declared cremation ground workers as “Corona Warriors” and extended a 25-lakh-rupee insurance benefit for each of them. However, no further details regarding the scheme, including the number of beneficiaries or eligibility, were elucidated.

Being unsalaried, most crematorium workers in Vadodara are not under contract and work voluntarily. The only salaried worker at the crematoriums of Vasna-Bhayli and Gotri is the security personnel. While security guards do not qualify as cremation ground workers, the ground workers are not ‘hired’ to avail themselves of insurance benefits. According to a daily wage worker at the Gotri crematorium, he did not receive any other benefits barring the 400-rupee-wage at the end of the day.

Handling dead bodies, setting up wood, and cleaning pyres after use are only some of the jobs undertaken by crematorium workers. As COVID cases peaked over the last month, the workers were in constant exposure to the virus. One such worker at Vasna-Bhayli said, “We have been working here for two years. My husband works here as a security guard, and I take up the work of setting up the cremation ground, but I am not salaried. For my work, whatever money I receive is from well-meaning families of the deceased.” Likewise, her son, who is in the 12th grade, also works at a crematorium in Gotri on the night shift. She added that her son, solely reliant on tips from families, also conducted cremations without any salary.

The overworked crematorium workers, let alone being considered under the government’s recently declared safety net, are not even salaried. An identical voice from both the crematoriums was that not a single official had approached them regarding the benefits. The workers had neither been contacted for documents nor had they been informed anything about the scheme. However, despite the government leaving them stranded, the crematorium workers were grateful for help from the local corporator, Nitin Donga, and other volunteers who had regularly supplied food tiffins for two months to aid them. Some volunteers had also helped to provide water at the crematorium.

Although it was announced by the Rupani government on May 12 that the workers would be eligible for benefits retrospectively from April 1, 2020, no provisions of the decision were to be seen on the ground.