Introduction

As COVID-19 spread across the world beginning in December 2019, it overhauled the world. India, one of the world's most populated countries, suffered the brunt of it. Three years later, the pandemic persists, though much milder. It has been described as a great equalizer affecting every nation and population irrespective of economic status, geographical location, age, gender, religion, race, and ethnicity (Kantamneni, 2020). However, the impact of COVID-19 on people’s lives has been masked by a veneer of commonality as colossal economic and social inequalities made specific communities more vulnerable than others to this crisis (Bhadra, 2021). Stereotypes and negative beliefs against marginalized people often exclude them from society, leading to stigmatization. Social exclusion and barriers to accessing essential services profoundly impact the quality of life of stigmatized groups. It was affirmed in the World Conference on Human Rights conducted in 1993 that “extreme poverty and social exclusion constitute a violation of human dignity” (OHCHR, 1993). The harmful effects of strict lockdown measures and the pandemic brought immense risks and misery to those already living on the margins of society even before COVID-19 (Berkhout et al., 2021). The lives of these marginalized populations became more complicated during the pandemic due to less access to primary resources from water and sanitation to food, health, and employment (Trivedi, 2021).

One of the most marginalized communities is rag-pickers or waste collectors, who face social stigma due to their profession. Rag-pickers collect, sort, separate, and finally sell the waste material in order to sustain their lives. They do not have a permanent settlement and are deprived of regular water, electricity supply, and proper hygiene facilities. Rag-picking largely falls under the informal sector in which people are engaged without a job security or dignity. They and their family have to face harassment, poverty, sexual harassment, and humiliation on the street. The rights of individuals belonging to these groups are violated time and again, demeaning their contribution towards cleaner cities (Naaz, 2019). Marginalization is both a condition and a process that does not allow individuals to actively enjoy social, political, and economic life. It brews poverty which leads to social isolation and discrimination (Baah et al., 2018).

Ragpickers face various occupational hazards such as respiratory problems, severe cuts, infections, and tuberculosis (Santoshi & Kiran, 2019). Migrants, illiterates, and unskilled persons who are lowest in the caste hierarchy and considered the poorest of all are mainly involved in the work of rag-picking (Majumder & Rajvanshi, 2017). Their lower caste, poverty, and occupation they follow attach stigma to their identity (Kumar, 2020). The work done by rag-pickers and manual scavengers poses a distinct perception towards them which produces an unfavourable vocabulary against them, leading to their humiliation, disrespect, indignity, and injustice (Roy, 2021). The trade of rag-pickers is already maligned to be dirty, so people tend to maintain social distance. With the onset of COVID-19, this population faced further humiliation and violation of their human rights because people believed them to be the definite carriers of the virus. Their children experience similar humiliation and restrictions beginning in early childhood.

Early childhood development (ECD) is impaired by short- as well as long-term impacts due to adverse environmental conditions. Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, around 250 million children below the age of 4 years in low- and middle-income countries were already at the peril of below-optimal development as a result of extreme poverty (Black et al., 2017). It is expected that the greatest brunt of direct as well as indirect impacts of COVID-19 will be borne by children in countries with low and middle income. Therefore, it becomes the need of the hour to prioritize policies and programs in support of the continuum of ECD to lessen the impact of the pandemic (Fisher et al., 2020).

Since parents are the primary duty bearers for young children, their rights begin within the family. It is the basic institution for protection, development, and survival of the children. Children have the right to expand knowledge, to be protected and nurtured, and to grow with full potential. The parenting approach chosen by the caregivers has a significant impact on the ability of the child to learn and develop (Maccoby & Martin, 1983). As per the family stress model, households with poor economic condition practice harsh parenting (Conger et al., 1990) as it amplifies parental stress leading to inter-parental conflict. Harsh parenting not only affects the parent–child relationship (Conger et al., 2010) but also leads to developmental maladjustment in children ranging from decreased social competence (Bolger et al., 1995), anxiety and depression (El-Sheikh et al., 2008), and reduced cognitive functioning (Gershoff et al., 2007). Considering the situations surrounding marginalized communities of rag-pickers, this paper highlights the parenting issues they faced in nurturing their 6–8-year-old children during the lockdown. As social workers and from a human rights perspective, the researchers suggest that improving child development outcomes should be a priority.

Rag-Picking, Stigma, and Human Rights Violation

Rag-picker communities are stigmatized as they have a mark of social disgrace because of the trade they practice (Green, 2009). The stigmatized groups bear the burden of human rights violations and discrimination. They are denied the opportunities to access public services and face rejection in both communities and institutions. Stigma is mostly of two types — public and self. The notion held by society towards some individuals that they are socially undesirable falls under public stigma, which leads to prejudices, discrimination, and stigmatizing attitudes. While the socially perceived prejudices are internalized, leading to the development of negative feelings towards self which causes self-stigma (Latalova et al., 2014). The effects of stigma are not individualized and have significant impact on the family members living with stigma-affected persons (Votruba et al., 2020). In such families, parenting and childcare practices are negatively affected (Thornicroft, 2006). Understanding the social dimensions of parental well-being is critical because it not only affects the parents but also has implications on the development of their children and the overall health of the society (Nomaguchi & Milkie, 2020). Rag-pickers face particular hazards in their line of work, both physically and emotionally. They are extremely vulnerable to human rights abuses as they are not adequately legally protected. Furthermore, they are seen by the rest of Indian society as the poorest of the poor, and so are routinely harassed by different groups like police personnel, municipality officials, private contractors, and scrap dealers. Children engaged in rag-picking are even more vulnerable by virtue of the fact they are young and work without adult supervision (Nuzhat, 2020). Their right to live with dignity and the right to have education are gravely violated, while they also become prone to juvenile delinquency and substance abuse. These children are deprived of social supervision and good socialization, forcing them into antisocial activities like theft, begging, pickpocketing, drug-abusing and peddling, informers of illegal activities, and involvement in illicit work (Singh & Bala, 2019). Police view child rag-pickers as pickpockets or thieves and frequently detain them for crimes that are difficult to trace. Sometimes arrests are made just for the sake of accomplishing their arresting quota (Mathur, 2009). Rag-pickers feel isolated and stigmatized as a result of the police’s hostile attitude towards them. They are subjected to physical, emotional, and mental abuse; lack of guardianship or parental care; and an unhealthy lifestyle. Their poor status raises the doubts that despite various laws and a large number of child rights organizations, childhood is being dumped in the garbage leading to mass violation of the rights of children (Mirza & Indulkar, 2018).

Rag-Picking as Livelihood with Abysmal Occupational Hazard and COVID-19

Rag-picking is considered one of the most convenient livelihood options by the poor as it requires minimum knowledge, skills, or investment. There is no asset creation in the livelihood of rag-picking. The human capital needed is low. Rag-pickers also lack the support of social capital, limited market-linkage options, and their financial capital is next to zero as they live on daily income (Bhadra, 2019). Rag-pickers form the backbone of the sanitation sector as the perform the majority of waste collection, waste segregation, and disposal. This population is deprived of government-sanctioned basic identity cards such as Aadhaar (unique identity card provided by the Government of India), voter identity card, or ration cards (for accessing public distribution services to receive subsidized groceries and consumables). It makes their political and social identity non-existent, and public benefits remain inaccessible to them (Singh, 2018). COVID-19 intensified the non-recognition and seasonal migration of rag-pickers within and outside the city, further depriving them of social security schemes (John et al., 2020). Among the multiple stakeholders in the value chain of waste management, including recycling industries, small and large scrap dealers, itinerant buyers, are rag-pickers. Rag-pickers are the poorest and were most affected by the pandemic(Trivedi, 2021).

Despite their contribution to society, they are not recognized under any law in India, due to which they face various forms of discrimination, violating their basic rights (Naaz, 2019). Rag-pickers are forced to relocate to different areas outside and within the city as they live in makeshift shelters on the footpath. After 16 years of the Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change notified the Solid Waste Management Rules (SWM) in 2016. These rules have specified the roles and responsibilities of the authorities involved at different levels of the government in waste management and also laid down guidelines on composting, landfilling, and treatment of leachate. The document talks about the integration and initiation of schemes related to waste management, but the aspect of addressing the stigma faced by rag-pickers is not thoroughly discussed. The last part of the rules mentions the integration of rag-pickers to discourage the practice of child labour, unhealthy waste segregation practice, and exploitation and discrimination of the rag-pickers. However, proper measures are not discussed to prevent the derogatory behaviours they face (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, 2016).

Rag-pickers face occupational hazards due to poor and unsafe working conditions, which also exposes them to the vulnerability of contracting various diseases (Agarwalla et al., 2017). They keep the cities and towns clean and still are not valued and respected, affecting their own perception of their self-worth and dignity (Charles, 2018). Lack of proper household, inadequate hygiene facilities, and non-availability of common government identity cards force them to live under compromised citizenship. The low self-esteem significantly impacts their ability to perform, which is enhanced if the individual is a parent of young children. Low self-esteem may reflect psychological maladjustment among parents, which further increases the risk of problems children face (Finken & Amato, 1993). COVID-19 became double jeopardy for rag-pickers which further disrupted the basic services of healthcare, education, and livelihood options (Pigozzi, 2020). It became challenging for such people who solely depend on daily wages for expenses of the day. Some had to resort to begging for food items to feed the family. Unprecedented social and economic devastation due to the sudden termination of economic activities hugely impacted them.

Vulnerabilities of Rag-Picking Young Children

With the increase in COVID-19-related stressors, depressive symptoms and high anxiety are linked with higher perceived stress among parents (Brown et al., 2020). Children in the early years are majorly dependent on the parents and the environment provided by them impacts their holistic development. Survival crisis during lockdown due to loss of livelihood and inability to feed the family impacted the lives of dependent children (Brown et al., 2020). Children of rag-pickers are routinely disadvantaged due to the unequal distribution of money, resources, and power. These children are already marginalized but the pandemic exacerbated their problems. Child development got crippled due to closure of educational institutions, parental neglect, and lack of already limited institutional day care through Anganwadi Centres (AWCs, government supported pre-school facility) (Santoshi & Kiran, 2017). Institutional day care played a major role in child development especially of children coming from marginalized communities because AWCs fulfil the nutritional, health, and educational requirements during early years.

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Protection) Act, 1986 which was amended in 2016 restricts employment of all children below 14 years and deals with all forms of child labour. The Children (Pledging of Labour) Act, 1933 talks about elimination of evils of child labour against the loans taken by the parents. Factories Act 1948 prohibits children below 15 years of age to be employed in any hazardous occupation. Apart from the protection from labour, Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act (RTE), 2009 mandates compulsory education for children aged between 6 and 14 years. These laws in India are meant to protect and promote child rights and yet rag-picking is not seen from the perspective of child labour as the child is not working for any employer but the family. Despite the laws, rag-picking remains the top most petty job which continues to infringe rights of the children (Chatterjee, 2015).

Children of rag-pickers start collecting waste from as early as five years of age. They are involved in handling waste explosives, electronic waste, and medical waste which are among the most difficult and hazardous works. These types of collections lead to severe harm to the physical health of the children while also violating children’s rights as they are not legally protected. Child rag-pickers work without the supervision of elders which makes them more susceptible to the threat. They usually get harassed by police, elder rag-pickers, and municipal workers (Naftalin, 2004). Child rag-pickers may also be vulnerable to following delinquent behaviour due to the environment they work in. They are influenced by the elder rag-pickers who are accustomed to addictive substances like tobacco and alcohol solvent. Many of the adolescent rag-pickers are engaged in drug peddling. Girls trapped in child labour are more vulnerable than the boys to experience sexual exploitation (International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), 2015). There is grave violation of child rights in the occupation of rag-picking.

COVID-19 is a biological disaster which requires social security measures to prevent the psychological, physical, social, and cultural impacts on children. Due to the onset of the pandemic, the governments failed to uphold the children’s rights to survival and development and the highest attainable standard of health. Incapacity of duty bearers responsible for ensuring the right path for child development exposed the children to an increased risk of experiencing physical and psychological violence, and maltreatment. The shutting down of schools and the decision of shifting traditional classroom to a digital platform is not only increasing learning inequality but also pushing a large number of children out of schools. All these factors together have contributed towards the violation of the rights of children. Furthermore, stigma multiplies the chances of human rights violations for any individual and community (Paul, 2017).

Methodological Consideration

In order to understand the condition of stigmatized families of rag-pickers during COVID-19, the study was conducted using a phenomenological approach which is a qualitative method used to describe lived experiences of a phenomena for various individuals (Padgett, 2008). In the present study, experiences during COVID-19 of rag-pickers as parents of young children below 8 years of age have been explored. This paper aims to deepen the understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on nurturing care of young children living in Jaipur, India, accentuating the human rights violations they face right from the birth. The research proposal was presented to the departmental ethical committee (Department of Social Work, School of Social Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan) and was approved for doctoral research. For the present study, rag-pickers’ families were considered as a sampling unit and they were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Fifteen families were selected for the study using purposive sampling. The families are scattered in open ground area which is a slum near which large number of private hospitals are located. The slum is considered as the universe of the study. The data was collected from the participants using a semi-structured interview schedule and non-participatory observation through at least three visits in each family spread around two months commencing from August 2021 until the end of September 2021. The questions were translated and back translated to/from Hindi by the authors and resolved the discrepancies by consulting the Linguistics Department of the University. The number of sample was considered to be good enough as there was repetition of information leading to data saturation. Parents were engaged in discussions after due rapport formation and their statements were recorded with their full consent. Confidentiality of data has also been maintained. The families of those rag-pickers were considered who (a) have a child below the age of eight years, (b) lived in Jaipur city during lockdown, and (c) were willing to participate. All the names used in the study are pseudonyms. For operational definitions, parents are adult men and women who are married and have children.

The participants were asked questions based on the schedule and their responses were recorded to produce the results through thematic analysis. Using an edited transcription method, the recorded responses were analyzed to determine the themes and sub-themes and understand the patterns of responses. The thematic analysis was performed using an inductive approach following different phases (Guest et al., 2012). The first step involved familiarization with the data for which the authors read through the texts and took initial notes. This was followed by coding the data by highlighting sentences or phrases of the text. The authors searched through the highlighted texts to come up with the shorthand labels which have been called “codes”. The themes were reviewed and defined which lead to formation of sub-themes and the final report was produced. The findings of the study did not just explore the experiences of the participants but also the conditions and situations surrounding those experiences. The data collection was a challenge due to the movement restrictions imposed because of COVID-19 protocol and availability of families. Along with the parenting experiences during COVID-19, the authors have suggested feasible social work response for issues arising in the community of rag-pickers which directly and indirectly impacts the lives of their young children.

Demographic Profile of the Rag-Pickers

Official estimates of the total number of waste pickers in the country are unavailable as they are a migrating population. There are an estimated 1.5 million to 4 million waste pickers in India, who pick up, clean, sort, and segregate recyclable waste and sell it further up the value chain (Bose & Bhattacharya, 2017). Official data on the population of rag-pickers in Jaipur is not recorded. They come to Jaipur city from different places belonging to diverse backgrounds, but their primary identity is rag-picking. The stigma associated with this population becomes a major hinderance to them in accessing social support and they face denial in accessing resources.

Eight families of rag-pickers engaged in the occupation from last 5-10 years told that they spend an average of 10 hours per day before signing off for the day (refer Table 1). It is an intergenerational trade for the remaining participating families, meaning they have seen their parents and grandparents working in the same profession. An analysis of the data shows that most of the elder members in the family remained unschooled, while only two reported having attended formal education up to the primary level and could either read or write. These were all males. Many participants confessed during the discussion that they could not get educated due to family conditions and profession, but they would ensure good education for their children. Caste is a dominant player in Indian society in defining the profession and social status of individuals. There is a close relationship between caste and occupation (Srinivasan, 1963). People born in lower castes are trapped in performing trades that are considered the most defiling and polluting among all (Chaudhry, 2013). The distribution of caste shows that six families belong to Scheduled Tribe while two are from the lower strata of the Muslim community. The rest of the participants belonged to Scheduled Castes. Dalits and tribals belong to the lowest rung in the caste system, while Muslims are among the minorities in India. The distribution of the participants by family size shows that there are an average of seven members in the family. The total number of members in 15 families was 112, out of which the majority of the participants were females who reported facing three layers of marginalization, caste, profession, and gender. Among the 15 families under study, 6 were nuclear families with both parents, while mothers in two families left the children with the father and her in-laws. The remaining had both parents and were living as joint families. The study’s findings indicate that all participants lived in temporary makeshift settlements. The rag-picker’s monthly family income depends on the sale price, type of recyclable material, and quality. The rate of the recyclable material also fluctuates depending on the market demand, season, etc. The average monthly income of a family of rag-pickers is around Rs. 6200, as per the findings of the study.

Table 1 Socio-demographic picture of rag-pickers and their families (Values in bold indicate total numbers in the particular group)
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Demographic Profile of Children of Rag-Pickers

There were 73 children in the 15 families studied, of which 39 were under the age of 8 years (refer Table 1). None of the children received any education during data collection as schools were closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. There were 32 children of the school-going age, but only 13 of them attended school before the lockdown. Due to school closure and the digital divide, these children are also not likely to go back to school. Children of the rag-pickers were exposed to informal schooling provided by citizen groups, college volunteers, or NGOs to promote functional literacy, which also discontinued the imposition of lockdown. The average number of young children in the household was three. Young boys engage in rag-picking from as young as 5 years of age, whereas girls are usually left at home for household chores and care for younger siblings, if any. Most of the children seemed undernourished, while five of them had visible disabilities. All children below 8 years in the participating families stayed with their parents while some of the older children stayed with their extended family members like uncle-aunt and grandparents, to continue their education. Informal discussions revealed that the girl child often drops out of school, if enrolled, to take care of younger siblings, help cook, sort recyclables, and for safety purposes. None of the children in the participating families was seen wearing footwear. As per the researchers’ observation, the hygiene and sanitation conditions in the families, especially among the children, were inadequate.

Results and Discussions

With the onset of COVID-19, rag-pickers’ lives further got tangled with their pre-existing vulnerabilities (Santoshi & Kiran, 2017). Due to their work, they became the first-line protectors against the spread of COVID-19, making themselves vulnerable to the disease. They are daily wage earners and do not have the luxury of working from home. It has been observed that optimal environments necessary for early childhood development have deteriorated due to COVID-19, which directly impacts the health of children as well as caregivers (Yoshikawa et al., 2020). In order to prioritize the interventions for ECD, caregivers need to be provided the support they require for meeting the needs of their children during COVID-19. Furthermore, ECD is more than just the child’s survival; it caters to physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development to help the children reach their full potential. Failure to address ECD will result in a future pandemic in which the most vulnerable children will suffer enormous losses of productivity, health, and well-being. The findings of the study with rag-pickers on the hardships they faced during COVID-19 have been highlighted in Table 2.

Table 2 Emerging thematic areas of human rights violation and challenges
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Impact on Parenting due to Financial Crisis During COVID-19

COVID-19 has led to massive loss of human lives and has caused devastating social and economic disruptions by pushing millions into poverty. UNDP predicted that another 200 million people would be pushed into poverty in the next 10 years due to the impact of the pandemic (UN News, 2020). As per the estimates indicated by the World Bank, the population under poverty is set to rise between 143 and 163 million who would be COVID-19-induced poor (Lakner et al., 2021).

Seasonal Nature of Work Opportunities and Income

Due to rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus, lockdown was imposed in the country, leading to shutdown of all economic activities, including rag-picking. The people engaged in rag-picking earned a daily living, but their work came to an absolute halt due to lockdown conditions. They were not allowed to collect the waste in the first lockdown. For people engaged in daily wage labour, lockdown breached their right to work by impeding their liberty and protection of life (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966). By the second lockdown, they could collect the waste but could not find any buyer to sell the collected rag to. There were no special social protection measures initiated by the authorities for the welfare of rag-pickers.

Savitri (35) said, “There are eight members in my family out of which only my husband earns. I have to look after my three children, aged seven and three years, and the youngest is two months old. We could barely eat one vegetable and mostly had to satisfy ourselves with only green chili. My children are fed starchy rice water. When lockdown happened, we became apprehensive that we would not be able to feed our children even this much, but with the government’s and other people’s help with the rations, we were saved from the death bed”. Another rag-picker named Sonu (34) shared his prior to lockdown story when he would collect waste and earn around ₹200 per day by selling it. While during the lockdown, he could not earn even a single penny. Anil (40) shared that five years back, he had moved to Jaipur from his village in search of work. When Anil started working as a rag-picker, he lived with his wife, so he could manage the meager money he earned. But now, he has the burden of a family of five members, which includes a 2-year 5-month-old daughter. The waste-picking was not helping to feed his family in the lockdown period.

Increased Incidences of Exploitation

The jobs of rag-pickers were already threatened when private players entered the field of waste collection. They used to follow an informal system of sharing, which helped multiple waste pickers to collect from the same area. But after privatization, fewer people earned a living from the same amount of waste. They also have to pay a certain amount to enter the dumping ground to collect waste. An already financially cramped situation was aggravated by the advent of COVID-19 when their movement was restricted, and they could not find buyers for the recyclables they collected. Those who worked at landfills, or operated in dumpsters and other informal spaces, became entirely jobless.

The financial crisis faced by the rag-pickers impacted their parenting capacities as it was challenging for them to arrange for basic food and provide nutrition to their children (Brown et al., 2020). Due to constant stress and anxiety among parents arising from the financial crisis, it was difficult for them to take adequate care of their children. Om Prakash (23) said, “I was agitated thinking about when everything would become normal as we could not do any work during the lockdown. Even after the lockdown was lifted, finding work was tough. This was the only thing which occupied our minds. Thinking beyond survival of our children is not in our fate”.

Impact on Parenting while in close contact with COVID-19

Rag-pickers provide essential services of public health to commercial establishments, hospitals, and residential colonies. They possess the highest risk of exposure to COVID-19 as they handle contaminated and unmarked waste without safety gear. The rag-pickers believed that due to their regular dealing with the toxic waste, they became immune to the harmful germs making them resistant to the effects of COVID-19. However, they are more susceptible to COVID-19 because of heavy physical work, poor diet, and probable infections from the garbage (Hunt, 1996).

Exposure of Children to Hazardous Medical Waste of COVID-19

Children of rag-pickers are exposed to toxic medical waste right from birth as dumping grounds are swarmed by all sorts of untreated garbage (Santoshi & Kiran, 2019). According to Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), children have the right to a safe environment (UNICEF, 1989). These children put their hands in garbage dumps and dustbins for plastic, tin, glass pieces, paper rags, and food, making them prone to various skin problems. They are vulnerable to bio-medical waste because they come across needles, medicines, syringes, and disposed-off vials or PPE kits used for COVID-19 (Naaz, 2019). “My 6-year-old son accompanies me and helps in collecting rags. He usually picks up the masks he finds and roams around the whole day wearing it”, said Devi (26). Apart from causing skin diseases, hepatitis A or B, and common respiratory disorders, it can expose children to the threat of the COVID-19 virus. Interaction with some families revealed that few children stay at home while parents are in the dumping ground and take care of younger siblings, which prevents them from directly exposing them to the waste. However, exposure of adult members of those households to the virus makes it inevitable for children staying at home to remain unaffected, given the high contagiosity of the virus.

Lack of Space at the Settlement

The families live in temporary settlements, which seem crowded due to the availability of compact space with inadequate drinking water and sanitary facilities (Singh, 2018). After returning home from rag-picking, the parents did not have the luxury of separate rooms in the temporary settlements to isolate themselves if they got exposed to the virus during rag collection and segregation (Tipple & Speak, 2006). Their compact settlements made physical distancing challenging, and the children remained in close contact, putting them at risk of contracting the virus. Around 6 families confirmed to have symptoms of COVID-19 during the lockdown period, but it was believed to be just the common cold, and fortunately, no one succumbed to the disease. It was shared by around 8 families that they were aware of how the virus could be transmitted from one person to another and thus wanted to keep a distance from their children after coming home from rag-picking, but due to lack of space, it became impossible. As a common feature of Indian societies, female house members were responsible for household chores and raising children. This limited the scope of keeping children away from the mothers.

Parenting Issues During COVID-19

Among the rag-pickers, the concept of parenting was limited to just providing the children with food, shelter, and clothing. Geeta (36) said, “We have to work the whole day; only then do our families survive. Our priority is to keep our children alive first. We do not have the means to fulfil their other needs, and we all are illiterates, so we cannot teach our children without schools”. The trade of rag-picking has distinctive consequences for children. Discussions with the families revealed that many children get addicted to cigarettes/bidis, paan masala (chewing tobacco), thinner, local liquor, and other drugs (Bhosale & Korishetti, 2013). With already so many issues faced by children which remain unattended by the parents, COVID-19 aggravated the situations. The children face health issues as they are malnourished due to their unhealthy eating habits and erratic lifestyle (Tauro, 2018).

Inability to Support Children’s Education

The proportion of educated parents was too low in the population studied, but they expressed their intention of sending the children to schools as and when the situation permits (Somani et al., 2016). “I never went to school, but I want my children to study well and work in dignified jobs. If they will not study, they too will end up doing this dirty work”, says Kabila (29). Parents themselves emphasized the requirement of education in breaking the cycle of poverty. Due to regular migration before COVID-19, the children from rag-picking families were irregular in schools. With the advent of COVID-19, they got the opportunity to stay at a place, but the schools were closed. Since they have not been regularly engaged in formal school before lockdown, their accessibility to online classes is ruled out.

It has been observed that pre-schooling is not given much importance among these families as the Anganwadi Centres were not present nearby. Parents who wanted formal education for their children preferred to admit their children directly to primary school. School education is also not very popular as parents prefer to engage the children in earning for the household or taking care of the younger siblings during working hours (Salve & Tewari, 2016). Before lockdown, private individuals or civil society organizations took informal classes, but during the lockdown, there has been no provision of educational classes for the children of rag-pickers. Uneducated parents remained unaware of the learning support they could provide at home to their young children. Restricted scope of education impacts the prospects of such children and further violates their rights.

Unstable Family Relationships to Provide Adequate Care and Protection to Children

In 2 families out of 15, the lady of the house abandoned the family leaving children with the husband and the in-laws. One of the husbands became addict, while the other had the responsibility of 9 family members, which left their young children’s emotional and physical needs unattended. Since the parents are not responsive to the needs of children, they began fulfilling their own needs by earning money from the early age engaging in petty unskilled jobs and falling into bad habits. Warmth and positivity of parents has the ability to reduce externalizing behaviours among children (Eisenberg et al., 2005).

Due to the temporary settlements, they keep migrating within the city. This impacts the education of their children. Very few children in these communities continue their studies reaching higher classes, so the parents leave them at a relative’s place to complete at a single school. Ravi (46) shared about his 16-year-old son, “Ajay lives with his aunt in Shastri Nagar because his school is nearby her slum. He is studying in Class 8 and used to go to school every day before lockdown”. “Young children until 8–10 years of age stay with us. We take care of them, and they sometimes accompany us to the site of rag-picking when no one can be left at home. Although we try to avoid taking them in the waste heaps because of the filth”, shared Rani (33).

Problem of Hunger and Corresponding Support Mechanisms

The environment around rag-pickers is always extremely filthy as they work in the garbage and live near trash with their family. They are mostly surrounded by dogs or cows and have to manually deal with hazardous waste without protective gear like shoes or gloves. They eat polluted remnants of food found in dumping grounds or garbage bins. Children run a high risk as they play on the dumping grounds, which makes them vulnerable to stumble upon syringes, soiled gloves, and many different types of medical wastes. As a result of this, the children suffer from respiratory diseases, anemia, worms, dog bites, cuts, etc. (Naaz, 2019).

“We are living in temporary shelters and can be evacuated any time. There is garbage all around us. Our children play there and eat whatever they find. We do not know what a nutritious diet is, but we work hard to give adequate food to our children. Also, we cannot go after them all day to stop them from picking up the filth”, shared Salma (38). The children of rag-pickers were all being fed extremely watery vegetables for lunch and/or dinner and were sometimes just given rice starch water. They underwent the trauma of hunger and suffered from malnutrition, ill health, and weakness (Tauro, 2018). People engaged in rag-picking already struggle to earn enough money to eat.

The pandemic has caused severe survival crises, especially for young children.

Rag-picking hampers the growth of children and promotes anti-social habits like smoking, gambling, and pick-pocketing (Singh & Bala, 2019). The principal motivation of parents to engage children in this occupation is to supplement/increase family income. Despite the deleterious impact of the work on their lives, rag-pickers continue to follow the trade of rag-picking as they expressed it gives them freedom from the clutches of the employer’s authority.

Impact on Health and Well-being During COVID-19

COVID-19 led to not only a major disruption to food supply chains in the wake of lockdowns but also a significant global economic slowdown. These crises have resulted in lower incomes and higher prices of food items, putting them out of reach for many and undermining their right to food. According to the State of Food Security and Nutrition report (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, & WHO, 2020), around two billion people before the advent of the pandemic faced food insecurity. These numbers are soaring by 60 million over 5 years since 2014. Food systems are being majorly disrupted by the lockdowns, which were intended to contain the spread of the virus but instead led to increase in hunger significantly (HLPE, 2020).

Lack of Accessibility to Basic Requirements and Services

Quality of Life

Rag-pickers are the marginalized population lacking access to basic necessities to lead a quality life. COVID-19 amplified their problems by taking away their livelihood. With the sudden halt in daily income, it became challenging to buy food supplies.

“It seemed like nobody cared for us. Lockdown period could have proved fatal had rations not been provided on time because we had no work at all”, says Hussein (54), who lives in a temporary settlement with a family of eight.

The participating families shared that they received dry rations as well as food packets during the lockdown period as part of relief measures, but it was irregular. So they wanted to store the food they received for another day but had no storage facilities. Also, once the unlocking began, all the help they received stopped. People shared that it took time to restart the trade they were involved in and still required such help.

Water Accessibility

Accessibility to water, the most basic necessity of life, was already a challenge to them as they had to get it from public places, which were sometimes restricted by the police or local municipal authorities. COVID-19 intensified the issue. “They were saying to wash our hands but with what? We do not have access to water supply, let alone soap. We bring water from the nearby well, but it was tough to step out of our settlements because police patrolling was very strict”, informed Rajni (46), who is a mother of four children, out of whom two are in early childhood.

Access to Healthcare

Reaching the hospital for childbirth during lockdown posed a considerable challenge due to the lack of transport availability. Due to the stigma attached to the rag-pickers, often they do not get good response from the hospital staff who pushed them to practice home delivery in most of the cases. Though in last few years before lockdown, a few families followed institutional delivery which also got discouraged after the onset of COVID-19, forcing them to opt for home delivery. During the second lockdown, hospitals were overcrowded, making it very difficult to get a bed. “When Sunita (1) was born during the second lockdown, we went to 2–3 private hospitals, but they did not admit me because of bed unavailability. In the next hospital we went to, the doctor examined me after multiple requests from my husband, and we were sent back the same day”, shared Dhantri (28), who lives in a tent on VT Road, Jaipur.

The people were scared to visit hospitals for non-COVID-related diseases, and the doctors were also preoccupied. This was very difficult for families with young children. These shanty areas did not have any Anganwadi Centres nearby, which deprived them of the services of ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery) and ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers, the frontline community foot soldiers responsible for providing primary health and nutrition services to pregnant women, lactating mothers, children below 6 years, and the adolescent girls.

Routine Immunization

In many countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused substantial disruptions in the delivery of key health services, such as routine immunization, which lay bare potentially serious health effects among the population. The WHO reported widespread interruptions in vaccination services in nations around the world. It estimated that 80 million children below the age of one were surviving in countries where immunization services were deranged and hence would be at risk of contracting a vaccine-preventable illness (WHO, 2020). Previous epidemics have shown that even brief interruptions in routine immunization services can result in secondary public health crises resulting in increased mortality and morbidity (Takahashic et al., 2015). WHO says that “every child deserves a life free from diseases that are preventable with vaccination” for which the government of India runs a universal immunization program for children (WHO, 2015). However, with the onset of COVID-19, routine immunization was suspended in April 2020 (it was restarted in May in a phased manner). The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, guidelines dated April 15, 2020, stated that essential medical services had to be maintained during the lockdown, including immunization as an essential medical service (MHA, 2020). According to the population demographic data in India, approximately 27 million children will not get the pentavalent vaccine and other services of health, which will result in an increase of 40% in child mortality by the next year (Global Financing Facility, 2020). Out of the 20 million, India accounts for 11% of under-vaccinated and unvaccinated children around the world (Shet et al., 2021), while the countrywide lockdown has further aggravated the problem.

During the data collection, it came to light that most of the children of rag-pickers born in hospitals had been vaccinated during birth, while further immunization was not practiced due to the family’s nature of migrating. Due to the unavailability of proper residential documents, families refrain from going to government dispensaries for check-ups and vaccination, and private healthcare facilities are out of their reach. The health management and information system under the National Health Mission reported a decline in routine immunization services compared to the previous year. The study implied that at least 100,000–200,000 children did not get pentavalent (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b) and BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guerin) vaccines which are given to children just after birth (Rukmini, 2020). With inaccessibility to hospitals during COVID-19, children below 6 years of age who required essential routine immunization missed the opportunity.

Children Were Devoid of Entertainment

Lockdown imposed movement restrictions with continuous police patrolling. Children of rag-pickers could not roam around freely and play in parks and on roads but were confined to their settlements. The children earlier had the opportunity to communicate with different people during informal educational sessions conducted by college volunteers or civil society members, but COVID-19 limited their interactions. COVID-19 led to increased parental agony due to stress and anxiety experienced by them, which resulted in more reprimanding language and punishments used by parents. Some studies have shown that with the help of positive parenting strategies, children’s behavioural and emotional well-being can be mediated, which has a direct relationship with the mental health of parents (Giallo et al., 2014).

Issues with Identity

In modern societies, having an identity document is one of the requirements and standards of life. In India, Aadhaar is an official document for verifying and authenticating the identity and address of individuals. It is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on behalf of the Government of India. It is a card that contains a 12-digit unique identification number with biometric information, name, photo, date of birth, and address of the individual. Aadhaar is a valid identity proof and is compulsory for availing of the majority of welfare schemes and services in India. Although the Supreme Court of India passed an interim order affirming that Aadhaar could not be made mandatory (Rajagopal, 2021), many private and government authorities still insist on linking Aadhaar to allow ordinary citizens to avail benefits of various services.

People from impoverished and marginalized communities like rag-pickers are deprived of these identity cards as their livelihood does not allow them to settle in one place. As elucidated earlier in the article, the rag-pickers keep migrating within or sometimes outside town/city at irregular intervals depending on the availability of work and evacuation drive by the local municipal corporation. Their domicile nature does not allow them to provide address proof which is the main requirement for getting the Aadhaar card.

Lack of identity also causes difficulties for the children to avail adequate facilities. The Aadhaar card is one of the essential requirements for getting admission to educational institutions like schools and Anganwadi centres. Many children of rag-pickers were not enrolled in educational institutions before lockdown due to identity crises, and the situation worsened further. Pregnant women benefit from Matru Vandana Yojana or Janani Suraksha Yojana (maternity benefit and safe motherhood schemes of the government) if they possess an Aadhaar card. During the lockdown if families got the chance to get to any hospital for delivery, they were denied admissions due to the unavailability of mothers’ Aadhaar cards. Due to home delivery, many children do not have birth certificates as it is provided by the hospitals in cases of institutional delivery. It further hinders the process of obtaining Aadhaar for these children as the proof of identity for children is validated through birth certificates only. Supplementary nutrition is the legal entitlement of children between 6 months and 6 years of age which is denied to those not having an identity card (Ministry of Law & Justice, 2013). For children of rag-pickers, centres providing such services are already not in the vicinity, but the necessity of having an Aadhaar card takes away parents’ motivation to make an effort to get the nutritious food essential for their children. Many rag-pickers were excluded from availing free dry rations during lockdown from the government as the Public Distribution System (PDS), which is a nationwide food security system operating a network of fare-price shops to provide subsidized food grains to citizens, required the linking of Aadhaar card with ration card (Dash, 2020). “We heard about free dry ration distribution by government and went to PDS shops to claim but they asked to come with Aadhaar card and ration card. I didn’t have any so I couldn’t bring anything for my family. But few days later government people came to our locality and distributed packets of dry ration which included wheat flour, pulses, oil, salt and sugar. They also asked about Aadhaar card but most of us didn’t have so they gave us anyway”, said Manoj (35).

According to the interaction with the rag-pickers, they have been informed by the issuing kiosks that the Aadhaar card is not formed for children below 5 years of age which is half-fetched information. Children below 5 years can have an Aadhaar card which is called a Baal Aadhaar card (Kulkarni, 2022). But for having this card, one of the parents must have an Aadhaar because the child’s would be linked with them. Children of rag-pickers are deprived of identity documents due to various factors which include address proof issue, parental neglect, and financial crisis. “I have an Aadhaar card with address of my village in UP (another state of India) and I wanted to get for my wife and 6-year-old daughter. I was told to go to the bank with the documents but the bank people were charging Rs500 (approx. $6). I didn’t have the money so I left and never went again”, said Kailash (29).

Rag-pickers and their children without identity documents, especially Aadhaar card, confront a wide range of issues including educational deprivation, exclusion from PDS, denial of supplementary nutrition, and other welfare programs. They are in danger of falling on the margins of society or being completely excluded because they are non-existent in the eyes of the law. Without identity cards, children become more vulnerable to violence, exploitation, and further stigmatization which infringes upon their personal rights (Malakouti & Talebi, 2018).

Feasible Social Work Response

Rag-pickers struggle to survive despite being an indispensable part of the waste management system in urban areas. COVID-19 is still continuing to take lives and devastate economies with many incidences of human rights violations. It has hit the rag-pickers financially as well as physically, facing the high risk of job losses and exposure to the virus. In addition to exposing the vulnerability of our nations, the pandemic has made the human rights violation of marginalized communities more visible (Davidsen, 2020). Along with the need to rebuild public health services, environmental sustainability, and hygiene-related behaviour-change attitude, the development of children must be given the due focus as children are the future of our world. Healthy early childhood development has the potential to improve future opportunities, school achievements, and even higher earning potential of an individual (WHO, 2018). Social work, an empowering profession with social justice and human rights at its core, has an essential role in upholding rights, addressing life challenges, and facilitating the well-being of the marginalized (IASSW & IFSW, 2014). Children of rag-pickers are an important target group for the social workers to focus on. They are more vulnerable, whose development is further jeopardized by everyday increasing survival challenges. Since child care practices among rag-pickers are heavily impacted by the livelihood and living conditions of the parents, empowering them must become the primary focus of social workers for improving the ECD conditions. Some of the feasible suggestions are discussed below to understand social work response in order to foster child-care practices among marginalized population who are parenting children in early childhood —

  1. 1.

    Resolving the identity issue

    Social work and human rights share an intimate relationship as the profession upholds the values of dignity, self-determination, and respect which are strongly imbibed in social work practice. Government accountability regarding the violation of rag-pickers’ rights is negligible as there are no schemes or programs directly addressing the problems faced by them as well as their children. No official data provides the number of rag-pickers living in the city, hampering their fundamental identity and recognition. Health inequalities, educational inaccessibility, and denial of quality life are secondary factors further impacting their survival. A social worker is essential in facilitating conditions for fulfilling human rights and empowering the community through participatory models. They can help develop associations or advocacy groups to provide a voice to the rag-pickers to prevent the violation of their rights. Social workers can facilitate the formation of Aadhaar cards, ration cards, and voter ID cards for rag-pickers along with occupational identity cards, which can solve the majority of their problems and uphold their rights mandated by the democratic government.

  2. 2.

    Addressing vulnerability

    Vulnerability of the rag-pickers stems from their poor living conditions, absence of social support, stigmatized profession, lack of voices to raise their concerns, and exposure to physical and psychological hazards. When a hazard is affixed with the vulnerability, it leads to human rights violations risking the lives of the people affected (Government of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, 2022). Since parents cannot enjoy fundamental rights, their children are also forced to face the brunt. The basic rights of proper health, water, food, and environment are denied to them. They are subjected to discrimination and physical, sexual, verbal, and mental torture. Their social security and educational rights are also compromised. In order to ensure children have access to their human rights, a multistakeholder approach must be advocated, and convergence of different government departments has to be enforced. The social workers should advocate with the parents, caregivers, grassroots organizations, and local, state, and national governments to prioritize child development and ensure children of rag-pickers are also included in the government policies.

  3. 3.

    Assisting in dignified work

    Technology has the immense potential to assist marginalized communities across the world. Technological engagement in the process of rag-picking enhances efficiency and reduces the occupational hazards for the rag-pickers. Digitalizing the sorting and collection procedures of waste can protect the rag-pickers from various ill-health conditions and also lead to the de-stigmatization of their identities, whose repercussions are felt by the children as well. Rag-picking is an unskilled trade, but with the addition of technology, it gains the tag of skilful labour, improving their living conditions and social status thus upholding the human rights. Some critical and successful models can be found in the Bangalore and Jamshedpur cities of India (JUSCO, 2018; Schiller, 2015). Social work professionals can facilitate partnerships with private corporations in their respective working areas and improve the living conditions of people engaged in rag-picking using technology. The involvement of private players in waste management can ensure the holistic development of children of rag-pickers by providing them with essential educational, nutritional, and healthcare services. Social workers need to bring the stakeholders together to work on building technologically empowered solutions to reduce inequalities, promote inclusion, and discourage human rights violations.

  4. 4.

    Need for sustainable livelihood

    It is essential to support sustainable livelihoods for rag-pickers to ensure regular employment, social dignity, and higher incomes. Social workers may follow a sustainable livelihood framework which, being a people-centric approach, seeks to make optimum use of human, natural, physical, financial, and social assets to increase the living of the rag-pickers (DFID, 2001). Collaborating with local municipalities in training the rag-pickers on the concepts of efficient collection and segregation of waste can help develop human capital, leading to their upliftment as well as integration into the mainstream society (ITC, 2016). The formation of self-help groups (SHGs) can create social capital while spreading awareness of approaching banks for fulfilling credit requirements can help communities come out of poverty by building on financial capital. Social workers can engage NGOs and corporate social responsibility (CSR) arms of the private corporations and help the rag-pickers in securing their work during times of unexpected crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. Secure livelihood and regular earnings will improve the abilities of parents to take better care of their children and may light the hope of more responsive caregiving focusing on developmental aspects of child-rearing.

  5. 5.

    Focusing child development

    Children of rag-pickers need to be included as an important target group for social protection interventions. These interventions should promote human rights fulfilment of the population under multiple domains ensuring regular health check-ups, immunization, supplementary nutrition, and accessibility to day-care centres as well as regular monitoring and support by child protection teams. Parents must be empowered by delivering comprehensive parenting education focused on enhancing the capacities of caregivers so that they become more responsive, ensure child and maternal health and well-being, and promote an adequate nutritional diet for the children. This will promote nurturing care and hence improve the outcomes of ECD.

  6. 6.

    Improving living conditions

    The rag-pickers make their settlements in non-recognized areas which constantly gives them the stress of getting evacuated by the municipality or police anytime. The government has taken initiatives to provide housing facilities for the rag-pickers, but they are located far away from their place of work. There needs to be more participatory intervention keeping in mind the needs and requirements of the rag-pickers. Along with housing facilities, the rag-pickers should be provided with medical insurance considering their occupational hazards. Social workers can improve the quality of life of rag-pickers by advocating with the government as well as through engaging NGOs and private corporations.

Conclusion

The present study has highlighted the livelihood, health, and caregiving problems and hardships faced by the rag-pickers during COVID-19. Parenting is a massive challenge among the rag-picking community, and with COVID-19, it has become more of an issue hampering the development of children. Due to illiteracy and lack of awareness, rag-pickers think of parenting as limited to only keeping the children alive as they can support in the family income. They fail to provide a constructive environment due to their impaired capacities, pushing their children towards externalized behaviours and impacting their overall development.

Poor and marginalized people have been facing vulnerability for years, leading to systemic denial and subjugation of their rights. Multiple layers of marginalization they face restrict rag-pickers’ ability to ensure adequate care for their children. With COVID-19, parents’ everyday struggles for their families’ survival further created a gap in interaction with the children. The results of this void created by the pandemic will be seen in the long term. Children’s rights are already violated due to the harmful profession of their parents as they do not get basic necessities like adequate food, sanitation and healthcare, clean water, and proper shelter. Already scarce food reserves coupled with diminished capacity to buy primary resources have increased the incidences of poor nutrition among rag-pickers and their families. These children are under constant breach of physical security and integrity, which threatens their protection. They live in a toxic play environment and non-stimulated or unsupervised nurturing, which also saw an escalation with the advent of COVID-19. The pandemic demands more accountability from governments, civil societies, and private corporations.

People with deep-rooted economic and social disparity face an aggravated effect of COVID-19, which makes it necessary to look upon pandemics above medical solutions. The pandemic brought along a constellation of elements for rag-pickers which infringed upon structural factors such as poverty; lack of sanitation facilities; risks of infection, injury, or impaired child development; and lack of support systems and stigma as a social aspect that reinforced the burden of the disease. This calls for a nuanced approach to protecting health and maintaining a quality of life (Horton, 2020). Social work as a practice-based profession is committed to ensuring the prevention of human rights. It must extend its services and push the government to ensure adequate care, especially for the children of people living in ostracized conditions.