BHUBANESWAR: Plucking tea leaves with baby tied to one’s back is quite common in the tea gardens. But seeing a woman sweeping the streets of Baripada town in northern Odisha with her toddler tied to her back has come as a surprise to many, with her image going viral on social media and goading the district administration to help her.
Laxmi Mukhi (27) sweeps the streets of Baripada for six to eight hours a day, earning a salary of Rs 8,000 per month. Laxmi said her husband Tiki Mukhi (30) works as a daily-wager in Tamil Nadu, and that there is no one to take care of the nine-month-old boy. “Where do I keep him? Whom can you trust these days to take care of him?” she asked, highlighting the reason why she is forced to carry him to work.
