Mumbai NGO launches mental health therapy sessions for domestic workers

Priyanka Raghunath Gaikar walks in walks in a cream colured salwar kamees and mistmatched tiedye duppatta her trusted purse hooked on her shoulder Gaikar is a cook and domestic worker who works around Aajeevika Bureaursquos office in Saki Naka Shersquos here for a group therapy session for women domestic workers in the areaThe initiative called Mental Health Tuesdays comes from the same organisation that had set up a labour helpline in 2021 in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic More recently though the helpline has received distraught calls from workers in emotional and mental turmoilMental health crisisReshma Jagtap regional coordinator west zone for Aajeevika Bureau told this reporter ldquoWe have a staff of eight on the helpline each with a specialityrdquo The calls come in not just from Maharashtra but Rajasthan Gujarat Telangana Karnataka and other statesFrom left Sadiya Mohammed Juilee Rasam and Vandana Kripalani from RAAH that provide group therapy to daily wage earners in this initiativeUsually itrsquos a common complaint unpaid dues from the contractor ldquoBut over the last year or so our helpline workers have observed an increasing toll on the labourersrsquo mental health Unpaid dues were always a problem but now there is desperation We grow concerned on such calls but we are not mental health professionalsrdquo she addedJagtap asked around the cityrsquos NGO circles and was recommended to reach out to the EmancipAction India FoundationRAAH a traumafocused mental health organisation Founder Vandana Kripalani and her colleagues Sadiya Mohammed and Juilee Rasam comprise the core group collaborating with Aajeevikarsquos initiativeThe Labour Line helpline for conflict resolution at Andheri Saki NakaThe session we encountered Gaikar at is the third such group therapy session Waiting to meet her friends before the session kicked off Gaikar told us ldquoThey have said that they will help us deal with being swindled out of money or being treated badlyrdquo When her friends got there each woman came with stories of hardships As one woman broke down in the circle we chose to walk out honouring their right to privacy during therapy even if in a groupA safe spaceMohammed Kripsalani and Rasam told us that in the previous sessions the tone was initially more of a quiet desperation as it was filled with men who were daily wage workers ldquoOne man was over the age of 60 and stayed quiet at first But on hearing a younger man speak up he too began to open up He told us that the milkman from his village had been harassing him with phone calls asking him to pay the bill for milk that his wife and children had bought He himself hadnrsquot been paid for a job he had donerdquo said Rasam Kripalani added ldquoHe said lsquoHum sabka bojh uthate hai hamarein bojh ka kya We carry everyonersquos weight what about oursrsquordquoAajeevika BureauAt the same time if resilience were to ever take a physical form it would look like these workers say the three professionals It is in these group sessions that they find a safe space to set aside their burdens momentarily and share their troubles ldquoSometimes we might take a minute to recover from their stories but they share their pain and then make a joke about it in the same breathrdquo said RasamDaily wage earners are often viewed through the lens of exploitation or pity taking away their agency so that the world can conveniently view them as a monolith with no selfassertion But spaces like this and the stories they allow to unfurl are an enduring sign that Mumbai mdash built on the blood sweat and tears of labourers mdash will always give back to themLegal aidA free legal aid office too was opened on June 25 at Khairaini Naka which is one of the most wellknown unorganised loose labour pickup points The road connects Andherirsquos Saki Naka and Jogeshwari and has seen many such cases that Aajeevika has mediated onldquoMany labourers have arrears over Rs 1 lakh and above and itrsquos a big amount for them but they do not have the resources to go the labour court to ask for what is owed to them Which is why we have started the legal aid office and hope to empower more and more labourers to do the samerdquo said JagtapHelp awaits you 18008339020Indian Labour Line offers an alternative labour dispute resolution mechanism that offers free legal support and mediation services to unorganised sector workers