Faded fingerprints fail dhobis at PDS shops

IT'S a hot summer day in Alagiripuram by the banks of Kollidam river in Tiruchy.

- K EZHILARASAN

Standing knee-deep in water, M Ganesan rinses a cloth, wrings it and throws it onto a pile of damp clothes kept in a bucket near him. Hundreds of dhobis like M Ganesan, who live in Alagiripuram are battling a unique challenge.

They struggle to get essential items from ration shops as the scanner does not register their fingerprints (dhobis often lose their fingerprints due to the chemicals used in washing).

The discharge of untreated sewage into the stream and fewer job opportunities for their children are the other pressing issues the dhobis deal with year in, year out.

Over 300 dhobi families live at Alagiripuram, a place resembling collective penury, as almost all of them eke out a living by washing clothes. Only in the recent decades has the settlement seen graduates emerging but they are unable to find suitable jobs. They have lost their fingerprints due to hours of washing away dirt from clothes, using chemicals with bare hands, every day for years.