Work-from-home shift hits Mumbai dabbawala's earnings

Dabbawala Tanaji Shinde, who is anxious about deliveries declining over the past few weeks due to the LPG crisis. Pic/Madhulika Ram Kavattur

For the past nine weeks, the dabbawalas of Mumbai have been slowly suffering due to lower-than-usual orders, a side effect of the LPG crisis triggered by the West Asia war.

Dabbawalas and their union leaders have explained how, since the pandemic, the number of those in the profession has reduced, and now, those still delivering tiffin boxes to offices in the city have been suffering loss of income, with some firms implementing work from home a few days a week.

(From left) Dabbawalas Ashok Kumbal, Machindra Jagtap, Mauli Bachhe, Ajay Sathak, and Sunil Shinde. Pics/Madhulika Ram Kavattur

A senior corporate executive said, "Banks and corporate houses have started implementing work from home for two days a week following the Prime Minister's announcement. But, a majority of corporations and other institutions are awaiting clarity."

Ajay Sathkar, a member of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charitable Trust, said, "We used to have two lakh deliveries a day. After the pandemic, the figure dropped to 80,000 to 90,000. In the past few weeks, it's 65,000 to 70,000."

‘We are suffering'

Tanaji Shinde, a dabawalla who delivers tiffin boxes around Dadar, said, "We have suffered silently for the past few weeks. We still get orders, but since the start of May, the numbers have dropped. Right now, the majority of orders we are getting are from Kalyan and Thane to Mumbai and vice versa. This is because of the online delivery apps and the LPG situation."

Tiffin boxes that dabbawala Tanaji Shinde was to deliver on Wednesday

A dabbawala, who covers offices in Lower Parel, said, "I have had two to three regular clients cancel on me this week, because their offices have told them to work from home. This has impacted my income. I had been earning R18,000 per month; now I make Rs 17,000."

‘Hope things improve fast'

Sunil Shinde, treasurer of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charitable Trust, said, "In early May, when the Prime Minister recommended that everyone start working from home, we feared for our livelihood. If the majority of people had taken his words seriously, we would all have been jobless now, just like in the pandemic. During COVID times, about half the dabbawala workforce left the profession, and now we would have been left with a few hundred. We hope the situation improves soon."

‘This situation can't go on'

Ulhas Shantaram Muke, president of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charitable Trust told mid-day
"Restaurants and cloud kitchens that we deliver for on a contractual basis have asked us to send fewer people since they are scaling down operations. This summer has been rough, with a lack of school tiffins and office-goers working from home to reduce petrol expenses. We have lost clients. If such a situation continues, we will face a severe loss."

65,000 to 70,000
No of tiffins delivered by dabbawalas daily

2,00,000
No of deliveries that used to happen daily before pandemic