Cab drivers, kin stigmatised for helping stranded people

Cab drivers who have travelled to other states in emergencies in order to help people have been told to quarantine themselves at home and municipal staff is pasting caution notices on their houses. As a result, the families of many of these drivers have been stigmatised in the stupid manner that prevails in many parts of India. Neighbours won’t talk to them and grocery shops in the neighbourhood will not sell them groceries.

On May 5, Dharavath Bixapathi Nayak was hired to drive a man and his pregnant wife to

Amalapuram in Andhra Pradesh. They had secured an emergency pass.

Explaining the precautionary measures he had taken during the journey, Mr Nayak said, “Even I am scared of getting Covid-19. During the journey, I didn't even drink water from outside. I took hot water in three bottles and packed my own food. I wore a mask and gloves throughout the journey and kept sanitisers in my car.”

It was on his return journey that municipal officials placed the ‘home quarantine’ stamp on his hand. Instead of helping the family out by, for instance, doing their shopping for them, their ignorant neighbours are treating them like criminals.

“The neighbours have singled me out and ostracised my family. My family members fear being abused by neighbours. How can I feed my children? Due to harassment from the neighbours, I am thinking of killing my family and myself. Who will be responsible for this? I feel that it is better to die rather than live like this,” the taxi driver said.

He added, “If they had printed on the emergency pass or even told me at the check post that I will be getting the home quarantine stamp, I wouldn't have crossed the border. I would have asked the passengers to make other arrangements or I wouldn't have taken the job at all. “We live on daily earnings. If I don't work for a day, we have to sleep on empty stomachs. They didn't do any test and I don't have any symptoms but they are asking me to stay at home. How should we survive?” the driver asked. “We have stayed at home for more than two months. If we can’t go to work, how will we earn and pay our EMIs?”

Another cab driver, who ferried a senior citizen from Hyderabad to her home town in Andhra Pradesh, was also sent into home quarantine upon his return.

The driver, Srinivas Rao, told Deccan Chronicle: “The passenger had come to Hyderabad to undergo some surgery and was discharged on May 5. Her family hired me to drive her to Andhra Pradesh. After taking the required documents, I dropped her at her home. During my return journey, I was stopped at the Telangana state border by the police who put the home quarantine stamp on my hand. I don't have any symptoms. The following day municipal administration staff pasted a caution notice stating that I have been home-quarantined,” he said.

He too said that residents in the building where he and his family live have stopped talking to him. “They think that I have tested positive. Even if I step outside to collect milk packets, they tell me to stay inside. They are sneering at us,” Mr Rao said.

“When my son went to a kirana shop to buy some items the shop owner refused to sell us anything. Even for buying vegetables my family members are travelling a long distance,” he said.

“I was informed at the check post that there won't be any issue and the stamping was only procedural but in reality the story is different.”

It is the same story with another car driver, Balaji, who has a wife and a fouryear-old son. He had driven a woman to her pregnant sister’s residence in Kakinada as she was alone and couldn’t take care of herself. He was stamped on return, and the neighbours have stopped talking to his family.

Shaik Salauddin, national general secretary, Indian Federation of Appbased Transport Workers, said, “Why is the police using the home quarantine stamp forcefully on taxi drivers? The drivers are helping out people during emergencies. They are also Covid-19 warriors.” He requested that drivers who do not show Covid-19 symptoms should not be stamped for home quarantine.

Given the kind of appalling treatment home quarantined people are getting, some kind of education needs to be given to their ignorant neighbours.