40-year-old Sunil does not have the money to pay for his children's school fee.
With less than 18 days left for his son's wedding, Jaipal Singh Sewal is praying that the preparations go smoothly. The 60-year-old sanitation worker with East Delhi Municipal Corporation, who had to cancel his daughter's wedding last November due to lack of funds, has not received his salary since last three months.
Mr Sewal, like many others across the three municipalities in the national capital, has also not received pending arrears. When asked how the wedding preparations are shaping up, he replied, "What preparations? There's no money to prepare for anything".
40-year-old Sunil has a similar story to tell. Father to four children, things got even more difficult when his wife fell ill two months ago with a chest infection. With no salary received for months, Sunil is under debt to pay for his wife's treatment. He also does not have the money to pay for his children's school fee. "It's a very difficult time for us. My wife had a minor illness which aggravated because I couldn't afford treatment," he said.
For the third time in less than a year, the sanitation workers in Delhi have gone on a strike demanding timely payment of salaries and sanctioning of work uniforms. They allege that they are appeased every time but the ground realities remain the same.
As the political blame game between the Delhi government and the BJP-led municipal corporations continue, it is the story of people like Sunil and Mr Sewal that is brushed under the carpet.
As we leave Sunil's one-room house, he ruefully says, "These parties are playing their politics, but it is us who are affected." In what has become an exceedingly politicized issue, the parties have probably lost sight of those whose battle they claim to fight.