Delhi labour chowk workers get work for 15 days a month, 10% get grain on ration cards

By Bharat Dogra*
It is around 10 in the morning and the number of workers at the Sigalpur labor chowk in Shalimar Bagh area of Delhi is increasing. As a worker Munna says: “The hope of getting any work is much lesser now due to pollution related ban on construction but still workers assemble here in the hope of getting at least some minor repair or other work.”
This is just one of the numerous labor chowks in Delhi where workers gather every morning to offer themselves for daily wage employment. It is an indication of the desperation of workers that quite a large number, around 50 or so, have gathered at this chowk even when the prospects of work are low.
Workers here explain that even when the situation is normal, on average they get employment only on 15 days in a month, earning only about Rs 7,500 in a month if there is only one earning member in a family. It is just not possible to survive on the basis of this income in Delhi, workers say. So in many cases women also work in construction, domestic work and even industries. Even in a family of two earning members, earnings rarely exceed Rs 13,000.
The workers here mostly live in rented one small room accommodation with shared toilet in Sigalpur village. About 20 to 30 persons may have to share a single toilet. The small room also serves as the kitchen. For this room they have to pay about Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 per month as rent and electricity charges to the owner.
What is shocking is that only 10% of the workers assembled here get subsidized or free grain on ration cards. "We do not have Delhi ration cards", say these workers most of whom have migrated from eastern UP or other areas. When I told them that the government has implemented a scheme under which they can get ration on their village ration card here, they said that this has not been implemented in their case at least. Hence all food grain also has to be purchased at the market rate.
Hence all the time there is a struggle to meet basic food needs. One worker said -- just ask all the workers here if any of them even had a cup of tea before coming here and you will know how few could even have that. Only 10% of the workers are able to buy any milk at all here for their families. We have almost forgotten about buying any fruits for our family. If someone comes to pick us for work, we will have to ask him to give Rs 50 advance so that we can eat something at lunch time.
Another worker said—sometimes we may not even have the cooking fuel. On further inquiry the workers said that as hardly anyone can buy a full size gas cylinder, so a smaller 5 kg cylinder is purchased and a refill of only about 1 or 2 kg may be done at a time because this may be all that the worker can afford.
Workers here said that quite a few workers have gone back to their villages as it was becoming very difficult to survive here.
At another labor gathering point or chowk in Haiderpur, a worker Indrasen said that the recent festival season including Diwali brought hardly any joy to workers due to the high rate of unemployment and very low earnings. Workers explained by giving estimates of their earnings and essential expenses that it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to meet their basic needs.

In fact if there is only one earning member survival is actually very difficult and this survival actually hides a lot of hunger and deprivation. Even in case of households of two earning members, survival is rather precarious. With winter fast approaching most worker households are short of warm clothing.
Victims of accidents said that there must be some compensatory mechanism so that their family can survive till their injury heals and they can work again. A disabled youth Anil said that he has been going from pillar to post but he has not received any relief elsewhere.
Most of the workers here face problems relating to not getting their labor card (or not being able to renew it) and not getting the various benefits meant for construction workers under the two laws enacted for their welfare.
Most of the problems of workers assembled here are similar to those of the workers of Sigalpur. What workers at both these hiring points reflect most is a desperation to somehow find employment in difficult conditions. As a worker said-- when someone comes to hire us and sees that so many of us are so desperate to get work, the wage rate starts climbing down. If the employer was first thinking of paying Rs 500, he now finds workers willing to work for Rs 400 or even less and takes them. We undercut our own wage, such is the desperate need for employment.
Several workers raise questions that when their work for the most part is not polluting, so why are they denied work for so many days each year.
Last year a few workers got a compensatory payment of Rs 5,000 for the pollution related unemployment period, but this year they have not received this yet.
I did not see any employers coming in to hire workers while I was talking to workers. However workers said they will keep waiting. Then in the afternoon some may walk away to get free lunch at a temple if it is available, then again come here to try their luck for work once more before returning home.
---
*Honorary convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include “Planet in Peril”, “Man over Machine” and “A Day in 2071”

Comments

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Beyond Lata: How Asha Bhosle redefined the female voice with her underrated versatility

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* The news of iconic Asha Bhosle’s ‘untimely’ demise has shocked music lovers across the country. Asha Tai was 92 years young. Normally, people celebrate a passing at this age, but Asha Bhosle—much like another legend, Dev Anand—never made us feel she was growing old. She was perhaps the most versatile artist in Bombay cinema. Hailing from a family devoted to music, Asha’s journey to success and fame was not easy. Her elder sister, Lata Mangeshkar, had already become the voice of women in cinema, and most contemporaries like Shamshad Begum, Suraiya, and Noor Jehan had slowly faded into oblivion. Frankly, there was no second or third to Lata Mangeshkar; she became the first—and perhaps the only—choice for music directors and all those who mattered in filmmaking. Asha started her musical journey at age 10 with a Marathi film, but her first break in Hindustani cinema came with the film "Chunariya" (1948). Though she was not the first choice of ...

50 years of the Port of Spain miracle: The chase that redefined Indian cricket

By Harsh Thakor* Fifty years ago, India turned the tide to rewrite cricket history, rising from the depths of despair to a moment of enduring glory. Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad, is celebrated among cricket grounds for its poetic beauty. For India, it became a theatre of historic triumph. In 1976, it showed the cricketing world what it was made of.

Search This Blog