Covid-19 Spurs Indians to Replace Their Household Help With Appliances

NEW DELHI--India's middle-class households are culling their armies of domestic helpers amid the Covid-19 pandemic, eliminating a crucial source of jobs and spurring an appliance-buying binge. Ila Rallan used to have five different home assistants troop through her apartment in Mumbai every day: one cook, three cleaners and one nanny. At the beginning of India's lockdown, they all returned to their villages. Additionally, her building wouldn't let in outsiders. For the first time in her life, she had to do everything around the house without the help of staff.