"To one who loves his
country in all its parts, it is natural to rejoice in whatever contributes to
the prosperity and honor and marks the stability and progress of any portion of
its people."
—Jefferson Davis (American,
2909-1889)
Word for the day
Schlimazel (n)
An inept, bungling person
who suffers from unremitting bad luck.
Malice towards none
Sharad Pawar must note that
for a Janta Party encore, opposition parties would need some senior and still
relevant BJP leaders to join them. Mere Sinha couple would not be adequate!
First random thought this morning
Water scarcity in Shimla must ring alarm bells in the corridors of
power, both center and state. The day is not far when the locals will turn violent
against the unmindful tourists and government agencies, thus destroying of
whatever is left of this once heavenly place. Delhi is also witnessing riots
like situation in many areas over water scarcity.
Experts and courts have been warning about deteriorating
conditions of ground water across the country.
Any government or politician who makes a claim of development must
account for water first.
Labor pain
Speaking with some traders in the
Delhi wholesale markets, I realized that pain for migrant laborers is going to
rise further in next few years.
Many of these markets are located
in old Delhi congested areas. The only way to evacuate goods from these markets
is through hand pulled rickshaws &, carts, and coolies carrying goods on
their heads. I know for sure that this true for most old cities like Mumbai and
Kolkata.
Most of these markets are likely
to be either relocated or decongested in next few years, rendering this manual
labor totally unemployed, just like the poor manual rickshaw pullers who lost
their wages to E-rickshaws.
Construction work in large
infrastructure projects is also becoming much less labor intensive now, with
rising use of modern technology and automation.
If the civic authorities are to be
believed, these migrant laborers are avoidable burden on the civic
infrastructure. It is also a common complaint of law enforcement agencies that
migrant laborers are also a major source of criminal activities in cities.
Having worked on some social
projects to help these migrant laborers, I know the plight of these laborers
rather well.
Many of these laborers mostly live
in inhumane conditions, with little access to civic amenities like water,
electricity, education, toilets, adequate health services, child care, etc. Many
of them do not have a proper shelter to sleep in hot summer and chilly winters.
Most of them have dependent family back home, but still work at much below the
prescribed minimum wage rate, thus subsidizing the traders, MSME manufacturing
units, builders etc.; and even households who use their services as rickshaw
puller, vegetable & fruit vendors, domestic helps etc.
Worst, these laborers have to
often face racist attacks from locals who believe that these migrants are
encroaching upon locals' share of employment by undercutting the wage rate.
Despite a host of programs for
rural employment, most of these laborers from UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha
have little to fall back, and cannot afford to return to their villages.
Moreover, with rising automation, the opportunity to work in farms is also
shrinking with time.
The question however is, in a
large and diverse country like India, with frustrating and unpardonable
regional inequalities, demographic imbalances and pervasive socio-economic
disparities, should we not have a national labor migration policy.
Instead of providing random
solutions like accident insurance, few night shelters, additional railway
reservation counters during festivals and pulse polio camps, the government
should consider regulating the interstate labor migration with a comprehensive
legislation to safeguard everyone's interests.
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