Jograj Daulatnath, a 70-year-old street singer and musician, often comes to Chandigarh’s Popular Plaza in sector 17 to earn his livelihood. He has been doing this for the last 38 years.
He sits in the middle of the streets and grabs the attention of people by playing his instrument and singing a folk song. This is a routine day for Jograj.
However, from the last one week, his income has witnessed a major drop. The markets bear a deserted look following the novel coronavirus outbreak.
People informed him it is some disease which has compelled everyone to stay indoors. When asked about the same, he expressed ignorance about the novel coronavirus scare. “I don’t know why people are not in the market. It is some disease which is keeping the people confined to homes” Jograj reveals.
Jograj is a patient of asthma. He also showed us an inhaler pump and said it was empty.
He hails from Churu, Rajasthan and lives in a slum near Chandigarh. He came to Chandigarh in the year 1982 and has been singing from the age of 10. He has six daughters out of which three are married.
“I own an Aadhar card but the Chandigarh administration refused to give me the social security pension as I do not have a birth certificate. I have to feed three daughters and have no money” says Jograj.
Jograj is not an isolated case of people affected by the lockdown. There are hundreds of people who have been affected because of the outbreak and have lost their daily earnings.
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