The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : In a state of jeopardy

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Saturday, Jan 24, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

In a state of jeopardy

Construction labourers are at a loss as their livelihood takes a beating with the slump in the industry, writes S. Sandeep Kumar

Labour lost: The boom time is now just a memory.

The real estate slump appears to have cast its impact on the lives of daily labourers, electricians, painters, plumbers and all those dealing in the nitty-gritty of construction work in and around the city. With many a construction work coming to a halt, all the above vocations, particularly that of the daily wage labourers are in a state of jeopardy.

On an average, a contractor deals in the construction of three to four residential apartments per year and based on the contracts and work, he hires labourers from districts. But since last year, there is not much of real estate business happening in the city and as a result there is no demand for labourers, says A.P. Bhavana Nirmana Rangala Karmika Sangham president K. Aillaiah.

There were days when labourers were hired a month in advance for different construction works, including, plastering, roof centring, basement etc. Owing to high demand and pressure to complete the construction works in time, some builders used to hire labourers from North East States like Assam and they even provided accommodation to them. But these days even local labourers are not getting sufficient work, he adds.

For a daily wage of Rs.150 (for a male) and Rs.100 (for females), majority of these labourers migrate from Mahabubnagar, Prakasam, Medak, Warangal and Nalgonda districts. Over 2 lakh labourers migrate from Mahabubnagar district alone every year but since last year the number has gone down to 50,000, says Askam Srinivasalu, a mestri from Mahabubnagar.

While, majority of them returned to districts to work in agricultural lands, some of those staying back in the city are forced to work as hamali’s with transport organisations, supermarkets and wholesale merchants.

A daily labourer who used to earn nearly Rs.4,000 per month last year, owing to slump and lack of work, earns mere Rs.1500 to Rs.2,000 by working as a hamali. The situation of women labourers is even worse, as they end up working as maids in houses to earn Rs.1,000 to Rs.1,200 per month, he informs.

“I have no idea as to why the business has gone down suddenly. I need to support my family, pay school fee of my two children and it is getting tougher. I hope it recovers soon and provides us enough work,” says Yadagiri, a daily labourer at Esamia Bazar.

Political sops

Thanks to the political party public meetings, rallies each labourer is getting Rs.100 per day with lunch as an incentive. But many are reluctant to participate in such rallies in apprehension of problems, says Labourers Association secretary P. Kaleb.

“As a cost-cutting measure, we had to lay off 50 men,” says Jagmohan Reddy of Crown Coasts at Punjagutta.

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