Underbelly of the Metropolitan
A story on migrant workers in Bengaluru.
For years now, the metropolis of Bengaluru, Karnataka, has been undergoing exponential infrastructural growth at the expense of biodiversity in the area. Lakes in the city started disappearing rapidly in the 80s. They have gone from 262 lakes in 1961 to just 33 visible water bodies currently.
These developments have led to a large influx of labour into the city, from all across the country. According to the latest numbers (2020) given by the Karnataka government, the state has 6 lakh registered migrant workers, with Bengaluru making up for 3 lakhs of the total inflow.
“I haven’t been home in over six years now”, says Sanjay Kumar (18), a native of Haridwar, Uttarakhand. He was working in Pune for the last five years, starting first when he was 13. He moved to Bengaluru in search of work this July. He says he can't go home till his sister's wedding, hopefully in six months.
He works for a private developer in the Electronic City area for a building that is going to be a super market by the name ‘Village Hyper Market’. He works for twelve hours daily, and is paid Rs. 400 per day.
Right opposite the construction site Kumar works at, is another apartment complex, with an in-built grocery store being constructed. The property is owned, and managed by a private business owner, Raja Reddy. Currently, there are 15 workers on site working on the project. Ramaya Reddy (34), the contractor for the project, is the one responsible for dispensing the workers’ incomes in a timely manner. He is also supposed to ensure housing and food supplies to his employees. Ramaya Reddy says unless there is a function or celebration in the family, he goes home once a month.
He spoke to the various issues he faces when a project’s completion is delayed. “I get paid only after the building is made, and if there is a delay, I have to bear losses up to Rs. 3 lakhs. Profits also run up to 2 to 3 lakhs when work gets done on time”, he says.
Talking about this building in particular, he adds, “This building is running in losses. Work was supposed to be wrapped by now.”
Purushottam Reddy (53), the property developer, says however, “The contractor gets paid a sum of Rs. 20,000 for every 10 by 10 feet of construction that gets done. The payment to all workers is made from his end, and we have no idea about these details.”
The Debt Crisis Amid Workers
Out of the 15 workers interviewed, only 2 were debt free. Most labourers were in the process of paying off debts worth lakhs, with no end in sight.
The pandemic, delays in payments and issues around basic amenities were the causes behind most workers' financial crisis.
Malaya (28), with a mother, brother, wife, and two sons, lives in Chamundeshwarnagar and has to travel every day for an hour and a half one way to come work on this site, as no one has seen to his accommodation in the area. He is originally from Vellar, Tamil Nadu and has moved here for work.
He says, mimicking numbers with his hands, “I am supposed to get paid Rs. 800 daily, on a weekly basis. But the owner and contractor hold back payment for months on end saying they don’t have enough money to pay me. I get paid very erratically.”
Workers' Living Conditions
A group of eight, hailing from Andhra Pradesh work at this site, as well. They all sleep on the first floor of the building, with flimsy jute mattresses and thin sheets. Ramaya Reddy gives them weekly ration for food. They, along with three other workers, are given 25 kilograms of rice and tomatoes that they can only eat two meals a day with. Supplementary resources such as oil and salt are all bought out of their own pocket. All the labourers work 12 to 14 hours a day, but the monetary compensation for each worker varies vastly. While Malaya makes Rs. 800 a day, Lakshman (18), one of the eight from Andhra makes Rs. 600. Another worker, Nagesh Rao (33), makes Rs. 400 a day.
The minimum wage for unskilled workers in Karnataka has been set between Rs. 404 to Rs. 445 per day.
Workers live in the buildings they are constructing, due to lack of resources provided.
Workers live in the buildings they are constructing, due to lack of resources provided.
Sites also have sewage water collected which smells and becomes breeding ground for various diseases.
Sites also have sewage water collected which smells and becomes breeding ground for various diseases.
The workers' water, food and beds lain in the middle of the construction site.
Lakshman (18) keeps himself warm by the make-shift stove fire, while his friends rest in the back.
There is next to no bedding provided. Workers work 14 hour shifts and then lay their heads down on concrete ground, with pebbles and shrapnel sprawled all around them.
Sumit Singha (18), hailing from Silchar city in Assam has been working in Bengaluru for the last two years. He is responsible for counting materials for construction on site, and ensuring all materials are delivered in a timely fashion. His sister and her husband and children now live and work alongside Singha in Bengaluru, while his father and relatives continue to reside in Silchar. He tells me, “I moved here at age 16 to be able to cover my mother’s medical expenses. She was diagnosed with cancer and was in treatment for the last 5 to 6 years. Last year, the illness consumed her and she died.” He adds, “I came here to support my mother. Regardless of all this effort, I was unable to save her.”
Singha also works for Raja Reddy, but works at a different site. He has been readily given accommodation by the contractor hired at the construction site he works at. There is an extremely arbitrary set up, hence, on which labourers have to rely for basic amenities such as food and housing, and day to day payments.
On Ali Askar road near the Nehru Planetarium, is a wedding hall being constructed. All workers on that site also live, sleep, and eat in the building they are constructing. Most workers are from Rajasthan and Gujarat and work 12 hours a day for a wage of Rs. 800 daily. Jabila (22), says, “They spray bug and mosquito repellent regularly in the building. So we don’t have to worry about sleeping in a disease prone environment.” In front of him is a sewage pipe and a lot of still water. Their area of rest is covered in exposed wires and sharp construction materials.
