The Hindu : New Delhi News : Sandwiched between insecurity and inflation

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Saturday, May 03, 2008
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New Delhi

Sandwiched between insecurity and inflation

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

— Photo: R.V. Moorthy

IT’S THEIR STORY: Workers at the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation construction site near Hanuman Mandir in New Delhi.

NEW DELHI: Ram Chander remembers and regrets the day he walked out of his parents’ home in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh. It was the “watery” dal that his mother had cooked for her family of eight that upset 16-year-old Chander and made him leave his food and family.

Almost two decades later now, miles away from his ancestral home, Ram Chander is reliving those days. A semi-skilled worker engaged by a construction company in Delhi, Ram Chander finds the prices of foodgrains and vegetables “prohibitive” and in a bitter déjÀ vu of sorts once again finds his family of five surviving on the same “watery” dal that his wife Rama Debi now routinely cooks.

“For the past three months we have been unable to have a decent meal. My son is in high school and I have been struggling to save money for his higher education. When the landlord increased our rent to Rs.1,200 in March, I told my wife to cut corners,” he says.

“But,” he is quick to add, “I sat my children down and told them why we can no longer afford a decent meal. I was scared my son would walk out on me.”

Ram Chander is paid between Rs.3,000 and 3,500 a month depending on the hours he puts in. “I am not paid the minimum wages. I have no medical cover and absolutely nothing to fall back on. What we save is for my son’s education and though I want to send my daughters to school, I am forced to send them for odd jobs,” he says.

According to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Ram Chander is one of many workers from the unorganised sector who find themselves in a fix. Insufficient wages, harsh working conditions, no State protection, and now inflation -- these are just a few problems that the sector encounters on a daily basis, say a CITU member.

“Almost 70 to 80 per cent of contract workers in Delhi who work in varied sectors -- garment factories, engineering works and construction companies -- find themselves earning a pittance. They are exploited, not paid even the minimum wages and very often turned out without any financial compensation. Contractors and managements are reluctant to even have people on the rolls, because then they are not obliged to pay towards the Provident Fund or gratuity,” says Delhi CITU president Sudhir Kumar. An example of how managements wash their hands of workers is the case of Syed Nizamuddin. This 30-year-old factory worker engaged on contract basis found himself without a job when he objected to the employer deducting money from his salary that was paid towards his treatment at a nursing home. “I was working both day and night shifts. One day I fell ill at the workplace and was rushed to the nearby nursing home. The company paid Rs.7,000 towards the medical bill and when I rejoined work, I discovered that the amount was being deducted from my salary. When I objected, I was thrown out,” says the native of Orissa who had spent nine years in the factory.

“According to the rules, unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled workers should be paid Rs.140, Rs.146 and Rs.156 per day as minimum wages. But this rule is rampantly flouted. Workers are not only made to work in apathetic conditions, they are also made to live in resettlement colonies far away from their workplace. Which means they not only spend more time commuting but also more money,” says Delhi CITU general secretary Mohan Lal.

But even minimum wages are not enough to insulate workers from the shock of price rise. To absorb the effects of escalation in the prices of essential commodities requires financial jugglery, says Murshid Khan, a resident of Bihar who works for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

“I am lucky that being a skilled worker I get paid according to the minimum wages. My rent is paid for. I and my family of four are medically covered. But the price rise has adversely affected us. One has to spend and save carefully,” he says.

Sanjeev Kumar, a colleague of his at Delhi Metro who comes in the unskilled labourer category, says though he is paid the minimum wages for his work, what he is left with after paying off his liabilities is just about enough to save for a rainy day.

“I send home Rs.3,000 every month. My wife does all she can to save from that measly sum,” he says.

With the prices now going up and up, Sanjeev is worried about the stability of his job. “Even if the prices are going up…let the Government at least make sure that there are jobs. Things will be all right as long as work keeps coming.”

A sentiment that finds echo in Nizamuddin’s concerns: “Times are hard, but if one has a job at least there is some hope. Without a job a man cannot even hold his head high.”

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