Madan Rana doesn’t want to reflect on the past week. Most nights he woke up at odd hours feeling anxious, and thinking about how he would manage his rent, household expenses and the school fee of his daughter. Since April, Rana has been paid ₹12,000 a month, an 80% reduction in salary that his employer, an IT company, claims is a result of a drop in business because of the covid-19 crisis. This Monday, he quit his job of nine years.
“I have never felt so helpless in my life,” says Delhi-based Rana, 38. He’s now moving back to his family home in Himachal Pradesh’s Baijnath town. He understands that businesses have been hit badly by the virus across the world but it’s near impossible for a family of four to survive on such a small salary. “You can’t make me work 12 hours a day and pay me so little. What about my self-respect, my family?” he says.
I have heard 40% reduction, but 80%!!!