Lack of work continues to haunt daily wagers

Every morning, Dharam Pal and his horse arrive at Bara Tooti in Delhi’s Sadar Bazar, looking for work; he lifts debris from construction sites and the horse hauls it to a dumping site.

It is a job which paid him well till November last year when he earned about ₹15,000 per month. “Now I make only ₹6,000. It has been hard to find work in the past one year...We come, wait, and return,” Dharam Pal, 25, said.

One of the oldest labour chowks in the city, Bara Tooti comes alive every morning when hundreds of daily wagers — labourers, masons, painters, carpenters — congregrate and wait for prospective employers.

But all say that last year’s demonetisation has broken their backs, with work hard to come by since the government banned ₹500 and ₹1000 notes through a shock announcement on November 8.

Bara Tooti — a temporary home to many of these workers — could well be the microcosm of the country’s informal labour market, which many believe was one of the worst affected by the note ban.

Md Abrar, 60, from Bareilly, lived at Bara Tooti for the past 40 years, working as a labourer, mason, carpenter and safediwala, those who clean up house walls and apply plaster of paris before a painter is engaged.

“I hardly get work for 10 days a month, but before demonetisation, I would get work almost every day and easily earn ₹18,000 a month. But I am lucky now if I earn ₹6,000,” Abrar said.

Most of these daily wagers are hired by local residents and shopkeepers to modify or paint their homes and shops.

Such is the situation that people are willing to work for far less than what they used to charge earlier — a mason who would earlier earn ₹600 a day is now willing to work for ₹300; a safediwalla who would charge ₹500 is now willing to be hired for ₹250.

But still, men of Bara Tooti say there are few takers.

“Demonetisation , I thought, was a good decision. The rich will pay a heavy price, little realising that it would affect me too,” said Jagpal, who hails from Bulandshahr.

However, workers engaged in Noida’s construction sector say the worst of demonetisation appears to be over.

And this is evident in the rush of daily wagers at three labour chowks in Noida.

Tejinder Singh, a 44-year-old carpenter from Punjab’s Gurdaspur, recalled the hardships he faced when he had to leave for his native place right after the announcement. The contractor gave him just ₹8,000 out of the ₹47,000 Singh had earned as wages.

“On May 9, I got a call from the contractor that he wanted to transfer the balance money in my account. He had paid ₹5,000 extra. He suggested that I come back and start work again...Now, no one really cares notes were scrapped ever,” Singh added.

In Gurgaon — known for its with glitzy malls and high-end penthouses — the real estate industry is still awaiting revival, partly due to demonetisation and partly due to oversupply, large inventory, and delayed projects.

“Buyers are not ready to invest in new projects and, also, many are not able to exit from the current projects due to delayed deliveries,” said Sanjay Sharma, a real estate consultant.

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