North Indians are under attack in Mumbai,
but in Bangalore they are the lifeblood of the construction industry.
There is nothing to look forward to at home even though I own two acres
of land. No rain means no work. My daughter had to be married off. My
parents are old and sick.
Ganesh Ram, Begusarai, Bihar
I work all the time here. Some Sundays, I just want to sleep and forget
about the work, the dust... If I could escape, I would. But where is
the money?
Abhilash Toto, Rajganj, Jalpaiguri,
West Bengal
AMID THE construction din that has engulfed Bangalore, desperate voices
such as these are drowned out. The city’s property and infrastructure
development is in the midst of a very visible boom. Flyovers, IT parks,
residential and commercial projects are coming up in a frenzy. Some
real estate industry watchers peg the current investment in Bangalore
at Rs 12,000 crore with over 1.5 lakh apartments under construction.
Others say this is a conservative estimate.
India is currently looking at creating local Real Estate Investment
Trusts (REITs). REITs are like mutual funds and, if approved by the
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), will translate into
skyrocketing foreign investments into real estate development.
Bangalore is expected to account for at least 30 percent of the $50
billion dollar plus foreign investment that is awaiting a nod from SEBI.
This high “investor confidence” and boom in construction industries in
Bangalore and other cities in Karnataka is being sustained by almost 15
lakh migrant workers from places as far as UP, Bihar, Orissa,
Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. Construction companies no longer turn to
workers from Karnataka; they specifically ask contractors to employ
labourers from these states because they work “harder”.
Escaping from poverty and disease at home, these workers are sucked
into a labour economy that is characterised by exploitative labour
practices, unsafe working environments, inhuman living conditions with
little access to basic amenities and almost complete social exclusion.
Their story is a parable for other migrant workers across the country.
Shivkumar Yadav, a supervisor who has been working with Simplex
Infrastructures for eight years, says, “Migrants are willing to work
hard since they come here primarily for that. There is nothing for them
to do other than work. We get paid extra for working Sundays so it’s
okay. This is a good company. It has given us a place to stay free of
cost.”
Shivkumar’s optimism, however, is only a kind of pragmatism. His
current assignment is Brigade Gateway, a 40-acre lifestyle enclave that
promises luxurious apartments, office complexes, a hospital and a
school, and Bangalore’s biggest shopping mall. The project has
subcontracted construction work to three companies Kolkata-based
Simplex Infrastructures, Delhi-based Ahluwalia Contracts India Ltd and
Mumbai-based BE Billimoria Co.
At 8am every morning, workers from these three companies file into the
site, yellow helmets and steel lunchboxes in hand. They have none of
the morning vigour that Brigade Gateway promises will infuse those who
buy and live in their huge complexes.
THE ACCOMMODATION Shivkumar is so grateful for is, in fact, an 8x10
feet space in a labour colony set up by Simplex on the project site.
This tiny space with tin sheets for roof and walls houses anywhere
between four to seven people. Around 20 to 30 people stay in some of
the larger rooms. Cement bags double up as beds and, aside from a few
bags stuffed with clothes and a few cooking utensils, the rooms are
bare. Since there’s a night shift, the place they vacate is taken up by
those who work the day shift. When TEHELKA visited the labour colony,
there were several workers bathing at a common tank. They had just
returned from the night shift and were thankful they had a place to
bathe, considering 300 people shared the living space.
Pintoo Yadav, who has followed Shivkumar to Bangalore, says, “We move
from project to project, labour camp to labour camp. There is no sense
of a house or a room. Even within a camp, there is no specific place
allocated since we work on shifts. Look at this place, what facilities
have the company given us? Free electricity in the camps and helmets to
wear at the site? Sometimes my back hurts so much from all the work and
lying on these cement bags. But what can one do?” Little point in
asking about company policy. Nanaji, an official at Simplex’ Bangalore
office says, “Why are you interested in the workers anyway? We will
take care of what happens in the camps,” and disconnects the line.
Conditions are only marginally better at another colony set up by
Bangalore-based Mfar Constructions. The workers here at least have
bunks with wooden planks to sleep on. Col HS Chana, chief coordinating
officer of Mfar Constructions, says the workers are being provided the
best facilities. “We treat them with dignity. They have bunk beds,
lights, mosquito nets and clean drinking water. Most sites are fitted
with Aquaguards. We also have crèches for children which are
either run by us or by NGOs that are our partners.” None of this is
immediately evident.
Manned by security guards and rarely allowed to leave their camps,
migrant workers are at the bottom of multiple layers of subcontracting
and outsourcing that form an integral part of the construction industry
today. Across cities, property developers such as DLF, Emaar
Properties, ETL Star Group or state-level groups such as Brigade,
Prestige Constructions, Mantri Constructions and Renaissance Group are
subcontracting components such as construction, architecture and
engineering to reduce capital expenditures and operation costs. This
sort of sub-contracting absolves the actual employers of
responsibilities and, in many ways, makes it easier to pass the buck
around.
“There are many reasons why such companies prefer bringing in workers
from north India,” says Rajesh from LabourNet, an institutional network
that addresses issues of workforce development in the construction
industry. “Unlike local workers, they are willing to work for lesser
wages (between Rs 95 to Rs 120 a day). Workers from the north are also
paid either every 15 days or given a lump sum when they travel back
home. Locals demand wages at least twice a week.”
Another reason why companies prefer workers from outside is their
willingness to work in risky conditions. Rajesh says locals refuse to
work on a site higher than four floors but workers from other states
remain in the dark until they reach the project site, and then it’s too
difficult to go back.
ANIL KUMAR, a subcontractor who brings in workers from Begusarai
district in Bihar, says migrant workers don’t disappear unlike locals
since they are so far from home. “The locals keep running off to their
villages for some reason or the other.” Kumar, who has brought around
400 workers so far, says migrant workers are willing to come to
Bangalore as the wage rates here are higher than elsewhere in the
country. He has an aide in Bihar who recruits villagers, pays them an
advance and buys them tickets to Bangalore. Most of the workers are
paid advances between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000. This is then deducted on
a regular basis from their wages in Bangalore. Hardly anyone ever
defects without full repayment. “In any case, my man is there in the
villages. These people have nowhere to go; most are thankful to get a
job and a ticket out of their villages,” says Kumar. Gangaram, another
subcontractor who has so far recruited 100 workers from Bihar, nods in
agreement.
In principle, the State has not been unmindful. There are several
legislations in place to protect the rights of construction workers —
the Inter State Migrant Workmen Act (1979), the Contract Labour
Regulation and Abolition Act (1970), social security provision acts
such as the Minimum Wages Act, Maternity Benefit Act, Equal
Renumeration Act and Workmen’s Compensation Act. Recently, Karnataka
notified the Building and Other Construction Workers Act under which a
welfare board for construction workers was set up.
CM Sitimani, the CEO of this board, is hopeful that it can make a
difference to the lives of construction workers. “There are several
benefits workers can avail once they register with us. These include Rs
10,000 as medical assistance in case of major ailments and payment of
Rs one lakh in case of accidental death or permanent disability,” he
says.
The board is funded by a one percent cess through which Rs 32 crore has
been gathered so far. However, the number of workers who have
registered with the board is only 22,000, a fraction of the actual
workforce in the construction industry. What’s more, as Pintoo Yadav
says, “You tell me there are laws which are meant to protect us but how
do I know where to go? Where is the time to go? I don’t even understand
the language here, though I have been here for four years. I never meet
any local Kannada people at all.”
Yadav’s plaintive remark sums up the migrant workers’ predicament. Most
workers from north India live insulated lives in the labour colonies of
Karnataka, impaired by language and cultural barriers, and without
access to local labour rights organisations, the media and government
agencies. But, across the world, the construction industry depends on
such vulnerable workers. The website of Simplex Infrastructures,
nominated for “The Most Admired Infrastructure Company for 2005” by the
news channel NDTV Profit, lists a Bahrain office — c/o Almoyyed
Contracting. Workers in camps at the Almoyyed East Eker camp in Bahrain
were on strike in the first week of February demanding better wages and
living conditions. Unless things improve in India too, Shivkumar
Yadav’s stoic optimism may just give way to something else.
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