What can appropriately be described as an “all-pervasive support system” to the Indian economy, the blue-collar industry in India employs an estimated 500 million people. Research has shown that the majority of the blue-collar workers in India are men, while women make up 27% of this population. This number remains understated considering the difficulty in accounting for female counterparts who often work part time in order to fulfill household responsibilities. While blue-collar work unarguably comes with its own social, physical, financial and emotional repercussions for everyone employed in this industry, these become especially stringent for women.
Apart from gender-based discrimination, women are further subjected to prejudice as functions of their socioeconomic status. These take the form of small social situations that compound substantially. Take for example the nutrition distribution dynamics in many households that leaves females severely undernourished as compared to males. Adding on, females from economically lower sections are less likely to be literate or have skill-based training than males. Several such factors combined with the ever existing social influence of shifting the unpaid household work (hereby referred to as the second shift) to females cripples their productivity within the blue collar economy even before they begin to work.
Once out into the workforce, they have no option but to go into low-paying unskilled labour such as domestic work and agriculture. These provide the comfort of safety and flexible working hours for women to serve the second shift but lack in regulations and legal enforcements that eat up fair wages. Research by SalaryBox reveals that in the blue-collar sector, women in India have made 19% less than men, even though roughly the same number of women are employed as men in salons, schools, supermarkets and boutiques.
The emotional baggage faced by women in the face of this intersectional agenda is what we seek to address with Behind The Scenes’ Project Niyati.
Project Niyati’s on-field experiences
Project Niyati seeks to increase knowledge about and access to mental health options amidst the community of blue-collar workers. Over the course of the past year, the project has been carried out in JJ Colony, Wazirpur, Delhi, and Jhalana Urban Slum in Jaipur, directly benefiting more than 50 people.
Project Niyati in Jaipur
For a month, we led a group of blue-collar employees through a series of interactive modules and community-building activities. The community bonding activities create a sense of trust and provide our beneficiaries with a secure environment where they are encouraged to express their worries to the broader group. The modules cover a variety of topics related to mental health, including symptom recognition, anxiety management, and de-stigmatizing psychotherapy. Depending on the particular needs of the community, we often hold sessions with visiting psychologists on subjects like depression and substance addiction. We also set up free or heavily discounted counselling sessions for people in need in addition to these programmes.
The modules brought up some interesting insights on gender when it comes to blue-collar job experience. Right at the beginning of the first session, we noticed a welcoming and curious urge for the women to participate in our activities, which lacked starkly in the men of the colony. Our first session saw around 20 women participating in our activities, as opposed to just one man. As we conducted our first activity, called the Yarn of Life, we encouraged the women of JJ Colony to come forward with their own day-to-day problems so that they can reach out and talk to each other. The activity led to many women talking openly about their experiences with domestic abuse and alcoholism in their households. Many of them found solace in knowing that they are not alone since the other women shared their experiences.
Module 1: Yarn of Life
Our second module introduced the women to some simple, cost-effective lifestyle habits that can better their mental well-being. We administered the game “Anjali Kehti Hai”, a modified version of the game Red Letter. When we asked the women what they do in their daily lives to feel better, one said, “Hume toh bas kisi se baat karne ka mann karta hai, chahe apna parivar ya gali ke dost, usme hi dinn nikal accha nikal jaata hai”. It was rewarding to see how the women loved the ideas we presented to them. They undertook all the proposed activities such as box breathing techniques to calm down in stressful situations, and the 3-3-3 technique to reduce anxiety. The third module encompassed the demystification of commonly-held myths about mental health and therapy by a guest psychologist from You’re Wonderful Project. The psychologist cleared doubts and questions that the women of the colony had about mental health.
Module 2: Anjali Kehti Hai
The final module was a discussion session held by Dr. Niyati Magan, a psychologist. She talked to the women of JJ Colony about their experiences with domestic violence and substance abuse. The final session was one of the most eye-opening of all since almost all women came out with their personal stories and tragedies of being ill-treated in their households. Most women talked about how the men in their families, sons and husbands, struggle with addiction and beat the women at home. We highly encouraged the men in the colony to attend a session with Dr. Niyati as her experience with countering drug addiction would be very relevant. Sadly, none of them were motivated enough to make the efforts and improve their conditions.
Discussion Session with Dr. Niyati Magan
One woman talked about her son’s addiction and how it affected her family. She told the group about her son’s alcoholism as well as drug addiction that has left her emotionally and financially strained. The young man in question has become unemployable due to his condition and constantly lashes out at his mother, while she goes to work every day as the sole breadwinner of the family. She had seeked help from police, doctors and other agencies but without any luck. The woman’s story painted a true and heartbreaking picture of the conditions blue-collar workers have to deal with.
Through our conversations with the women at JJ Colony, their daily struggles became clear, with most of the women tired and riddled with domestic violence and substance abuse in their households, on top of the never-ending cycle of financial plight. The women with great emotion about their struggles, and the lack of emotional support, both on the husband’s side and the friends’ side. At a surface level, these women may portray a heartbreaking scene but their strength and zeal to financially manage and provide the best for their children form some of the most inspiring learning. We realised that despite being in the hardest circumstances, they have not given up and silently play a role in a larger movement in upbringing a more employable youth.
You can write to behindthescenes.ngo@gmail.com for more information and suggestions on Project Niyati. If you wish to support Project Niyati’s upcoming endeavours either financially or through volunteerism, please contact us.