I asked him how the lockdowns had been for him, Ramnarayan had nothing but complaints against the administration, claiming they were not allowing him to do anything. “My son can’t sell these utensils, because there is a lockdown here. Police beat us for going out.”
Mamta is the daughter of Ramnarayan's younger brother, who was himself stuck in a different city during the first lockdown. They were then dependent on ration provided by NGOs. Though Ramnarayan’s family have ration cards, not all Gadia Lohars do. His family also had Jan Dhan accounts, opened under the Centre's scheme to provide affordable access to financial services for the poor. They had waited in long queues, risking their lives, to get the monthly Rs 500 provided by the central government to poor women during the lockdown. But that was not enough for them, "How can we run a family of six with just Rs 500?" asked Saroj, a member of the Gadia Lohar settlement.