Video Editor: Puneet Bhatia
I met Nirbhay and five other delivery agents of Zomato & Swiggy in Sector 104, Noida. It was almost 5pm in the evening. Lunch delivery orders were over by 2pm. And most of them had been waiting here for the last 2-3 hours with the hope that someone will place a food order and they will get to deliver it. The deliveries have come down drastically since the nationwide lockdown began on 25 March.
Unlike most of us, Raju Das or Nirbhay just cannot afford to sit at home. They have to step out to make deliveries. The orders have come down but at least they are earning something. They are putting their own health at risk to ensure people don’t go hungry and the lockdown proves successful.
Raju Das tells me that instead of getting lauded, they are criticised and harassed despite no restriction on the movement of food delivery agents. Delivery agents also come under the category of essential service providers during the lockdown.
Like the doctors and healthcare professionals, the food delivery agents may not be at frontline of the fight against coronavirus. But their role is important to keep people indoors, to make the lockdown work on the ground. And for that, we should thank them, every time the food we ordered gets delivered to our doorstep.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)