Comments on: To Crematorium For Work

By: Debashish Roy

Debashish Roy — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 15:51:01 +0000

Thank you Mr Patwardhan for making Bala Bhandari , Balasaheb Bhor, Ikaz Ul Rehman and the teamvisible to us…. wish I had read or thought about this much earlier…we are so immersed in our grief and in our moments to ensure we do the right rituals on the passing away of a loved one, and being there for members of the family, we forget that there are people who are part of the process who are doing their part in the last journey….we have never turned around to acknowledge their contribution much less to thank them for being a part of the last rituals….for acknowledging their presence….thanks for getting them to life ….thanks for helping us to recognise them…..

By: Ajit Ramkrishna Apte

Ajit Ramkrishna Apte — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 10:58:07 +0000

Unique narrative. We seldom come across these issues. Our engagement is just before/ after the death of near ones.
These issues be treated on emotional basis. Std organizational rules cannot meet the sensitivity of their work

By: Anjali Kanitkar

Anjali Kanitkar — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 06:16:09 +0000

A stark life indeed! I had a similar experience when I worked at an orphanage…my first job as a Social Worker. When any of the children died, I had to appear at the Coroner’s Court to testify… all the clerks and other staff at the office ( all male, at that time) were drunk and stinking 24×7…all because their office was next to the hospital morgue with a continuous inflow of dead bodies -claimed and unclaimed and the general stink in the area was unbearable.
That probably was my first exposure to people and jobs that were “not clean” and people who were less fortunate than I.

By: Vineet Kaul

Vineet Kaul — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 06:15:24 +0000

Dear Vivek,
Thanks for one more ground report -on the working conditions & life of crematorium workers.

They are Saviours on the Day/s we need their service. Sad to see the tough working conditions and life they experience. Surely, they deserve a much better deal.

How long can such workers be kept Regularly Temporary/ On Contract , wherein the work in perennial ?

Early this month, the Supreme Court has cleared Permanency of 300 “Rag pickers’ of PCMC (the same Employer ) . These workers see the Green Light after 26 long years !!
Justice delayed is Justice denied – 75 workers passed away during this period . If a Neta/Abhineta was involved, perhaps a decision would have emerged in 7 days

The Labour Department , Employers and Unions perhaps see them as a ‘small constituency”( less than 10 employees ) …hence neglected/ exploited?

Thanks to Arvind Shrouti and you for sharing and enlightening us .

By: Hirak

Hirak — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 02:45:27 +0000

This is so sad to hear about the working conditions. U am sometimes amazed that why do we always treat the bottom of pyramid workers in this manner and always wanting to exploit them. Isn’t this where industrial relations fail. Relation is always a two way phenomenon, then why exploit ?

By: sonali sarma

sonali sarma — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 02:12:50 +0000

The sad truth of precarious work.I remember our professor Prof K.G.Desai in T.I.S.S.way back in 1989,asking us how the theory of motivation would work on a worker who had to get into public drains to clean them,or a poluceman on duty at a morgue who had to show the dead bodies to relatives who needed to identify them.The dark underbelly of a system where governments,employers ,fail miserably.Touching & stark.Strengthens my resolve to always stand up for such workers.Thank you Vivek Patwardhan and Arvind Shrouti

By: sonali sarma

sonali sarma — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 02:11:23 +0000

The sad truth of precarious work. I remember our professor Prof K.G.Desai in T.I.S.S. way back in 1989, asking us how the theory of motivation would work on a worker who had to get into public drains to clean them, or a policeman on duty at a morgue who had to show the the bodies to relatives who needed to identify them. The dark underbelly of a system where governments, employers ,fail miserably. Touching, stark. Strengthens my resolve to always stand up for such workers. Thank you Vivek Patwardhan and Arvind Shrouti

By: Monodip Chaudhuri

Monodip Chaudhuri — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 13:55:54 +0000

Moving, but heartbreaking. Incisive but unbearable. I’m not new to the plight of casuals and contractual workmen but this kind of exploitation is at a different level: probably because it revolves around crematoria.
Brilliant piece Vivek

By: T S Ramanathan

T S Ramanathan — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 12:12:48 +0000

Sir, it is great that you have interviewed these people and have tried to highlight their plight in this real world. It is sad that except for a few, most people as well as leaders turn a blind eye on these sectors which are some of the most important ones involved in the service of mankind. It is time that we realise that these people too are human beings and their needs need to be addressed in the same way as the workers in the organized sector. You are doing a great service in bringing their miseries to light so that our government takes some positive action on the same…

By: Vikas Shirodkar

Vikas Shirodkar — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 09:16:25 +0000

very touching & eye opening. Typically we just ignore these people who are on the fringes. Great that you are making them center stage.Finally they also deserve a better life and it is thru efforts of people like Keshav & Arvind their voice may be heard. Thanks for taking up such a subject