Bhubaneswar: Amid the cacophony of vehicles, the 59-year-old Malati Acharya stands firm in her uniform to manage busy traffic to ensure safety of the commuters.
Malati has been managing traffic for the last 29 years and is still doing the job with the same zeal, undeterred by challenges, pollution and her age. She will retire next year. She hardly takes holidays to avoid penalty, which can affect her limited income.
Life has always been a mission for this woman. Her ‘never give up’ attitude, ability and optimism towards work is what has helped her kept going.
She is concerned about her post-retirement life as she is the sole breadwinner of her family. She is currently drawing a meagrely salary of Rs 9,000 per month and has been taking care of her ailing husband and her unemployed son. She thinks she would have to work as a housemaid to make both ends meet due to lack of post retirement benefits.
“I don’t even remember the last time I took a leave. My salary would be deducted if I take a single day’s leave. No matter how sick I am, I come for duty every day and serve the department sincerely,” she said.
Malati had never got any promotion nor is entitled to pension. Rs 9,000 a month is all she earns without saving a single penny for retirement.
Talking to Orissa POST about her retirement, she said, “I don’t know what I will do after a year. All my life, I have worked so hard that my body is now giving up. May be I’ll go to houses and work as a maid, maybe I will wash and press clothes for a living. I have to do something as I have got two people to feed.”