Urban Livelihoods

Chapter 9

1. What do you see inthis illustration?

2. You have alreadyread about the workthat people do in ruralareas. Now comparethe work that people inthis illustration aredoing with the workthat people do in ruralareas.

3. Some parts of thecity are different fromothers. What differencesdo you notice in thisillustration?

UrbanLivelihoods

Urban Livelihoods / 77

Working on the Street

his is the city where my cousinlives. I've been here only a few

times. It is very big. Once, when I camehere, my cousin took me around. Weleft the house early in the morning. As

we turned the corner onto the mainstreet we saw that it was alreadybuzzing with activity. The vegetablevendor was busy arranging tomatoes,carrots and cucumbers in baskets ather stall so that people could see what

T

There are more than five thousand towns and twenty seven big cities inIndia. Big cities like Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata etc. have morethan a million people living and working here. They say that 'the citynever sleeps!' Let's visit one and find out about the work people do inthe city. Are they employed by someone or are they self-employed? Howdo they organise themselves? And do they have similar employmentand earning opportunities?

78 / Social and Political Life

Bachchu Manjhi – A Cycle-RickshawPuller

I come from a village in Bihar where Iworked as a mason. My wife and threechildren live in the village. We don't ownland. In the village I did not get masonrywork regularly. The income that I earnedwas not sufficient for our family.

After I reached this city, I bought an oldcycle rickshaw and paid for it ininstalments. This was many years ago.

I come to the bus stop every morning andtake the customers wherever they want togo. I work till 8.30 in the evening. I take

rides of up to 6 kilometres in thesurrounding area. Each customer givesme Rs. 5-10 per trip depending on thedistance. When I'm ill I can't do this work,so on those days I don't earn anything.

I stay with my friends in a rented room.They work in a nearby factory. I earnbetween Rs. 80-100 every day, out ofwhich I spend Rs. 50-60 on food and rent.The rest I save for my family. I visit myvillage two or three times a year to see myfamily. Though my family survives on themoney I send, my wife also earns fromagricultural work that she gets once ina while.

she had to sell. Next to her stall was alovely, colourful one that sold all kindsof flowers.

We bought a red rose and a yellowrose. On the pavement opposite wesaw a person selling newspapers witha small crowd of people around him.Everyone wanted to read the news!Buses whizzed past and therewere auto-rickshaws filledwith school-children. Nearby,under a tree, a cobbler sattaking his tools and materialsout of a small tin box. Next tohim the roadside barber hadbegun his work: he alreadyhad a customer who wantedan early-morning shave!

A little way down theroad, a woman was pushingalong a cart with all kinds ofplastic bottles, boxes,hairpins, clips etc. in it while

another person on a cycle trolley wascarrying vegetables to sell to people intheir houses.

We came to a place whererickshaws were standing in a rowwaiting for customers. We decided totake one to the market, which wasabout two kilometres down the road.


Like Bachchu Manjhi a largenumber of people in the city work onthe streets. In a survey of Ahmedabadcity it was found that 12 per cent of allthe workers in thecity were peopleworking on the street.They sometimes sellthings or repair themor provide a service.

They work on theirown. They are notemployed by anyoneand therefore have toorganise their ownwork. They have toplan how much topurchase, as well aswhere and how to setup their shops. Theirshops are usuallytemporary structures:sometimes just someboards or papersspread over discardedboxes or maybe acanvas sheet hung up

on a few poles. They may also usetheir own carts or simply a plasticsheet spread on the pavement. Theycan be asked to dismantle their shopsat any time by the police. They have nosecurity. There are certain parts of thecity where these hawkers are notallowed to enter.

Vendors sell things that are oftenprepared at home by their familieswho purchase, clean, sort and makethem ready to sell. For example, thosewho sell food or snacks on the street,prepare most of these at home.

1. Why did Bachchu Manjhi come tothe city? 2. Why can't Bachchu Manjhi livewith his family?3. Talk to a vegetable vendor orhawker and find out how do theyorganise their work, their way ofpreparing, purchasing, selling etc.4. Bachchu Manjhi has to thinktwice before taking a day off fromwork. Why?

Often workers who make a living in the city are forced to set up theirhomes on the street as well. Below is a space where several workersleave their belongings during the day and cook their meals at night.

There are almost one crore 'streetvendors' in the country working inurban areas. Street vending was tillrecently looked upon only as anobstruction to traffic and to peoplewalking. However with the effort of manyorganisations it is now recognised as ageneral benefit and as a right of people toearn their livelihood. The government isthinking about modifying the law thatbanned street vendors, so that they havea place to work and that there is also afree flow of traffic and people. Hawkingzones have been suggested for townsand cities. It has also been suggestedthat mobile vendors should be allowed tomove around freely. Hawkers need to bepart of committees that are set up totake these and other decisions relatingto them.

In the Market

When we reached the market the shopswere just beginning to open. But theplace was already crowded because ofthe festival season. There were rowsand rows of shops selling sweets, toys,clothes, footwear, utensils, electronicgoods, etc. There was a dentist's clinicalso at one end.

My cousin had an appointment withthe dentist. We went there first so thatwe would not miss our turn. We had towait for a while in a room before shewas called inside. The dentistexamined her and asked her to comeback the following day to get a cavity inher tooth filled. My cousin was scaredbecause she thought the process wouldbe painful and was upset that she hadallowed her teeth to go bad.

From the dental clinic she took me toa new garment showroom because Iwanted to buy some readymadeclothes. The showroom had three-floors. Each floor had different types ofclothes. We went to the third floorwhere clothes for girls were kept.

Harpreet and Vandana:Businesspersons

My father and uncle worked in a smallshop. During festival times and onSundays my mother and I helped themin the shop. I started working thereonly after I completed my college.(Harpreet)

We opened this showroom someyears ago. I'm a dress designer. Ourbusiness has changed. These dayspeople prefer to buy readymadeclothes, rather than have them stitched.The trend these days is for readymadegarments. You also need an attractivedisplay for them. (Vandana)

For our showroom, we buy thingsfrom different places. We buy most of


the materials from Mumbai, Ahmeda-bad, Ludhiana and Tripura. Somematerials also come from Noida andGurgaon, towns near Delhi. We getsome dress items from foreigncountries, too.

There are several things we need todo to run this showroom properly. Weadvertise in various newspapers,cinema theatres, television and radiochannels. Currently, this building isrented but soon, we plan to buy it. Eversince this market has become the mainmarket for people living in thesurrounding apartments our businesshas grown. We've been able to buy acar and book a flat in an apartmentcomplex nearby.

Like Harpreet and Vandana thereare many people who own shops invarious markets of the city. Theseshops may be small or large and theysell different things. Most business-persons manage their own shops orbusiness. They are not employed byanyone. But, they do employ anumber of other workers assupervisors and helpers. These arepermanent shops that are given a

licence to do business by themunicipal corporation. The MunicipalCorporation also decides on which dayof the week the market has to remainclosed. For example the shops in theabove market are closed onWednesdays. This market also hassmall offices and shops that provideservices, such as banks, courierservices and others.

In the Factory-Workshop Area

I wanted to have zari work done on oneof my dresses which I needed for aspecial occasion. My cousin said thatshe knew Nirmala who works in agarment factory. Nirmala's neighboursdo zari work and embroidery. So wecaught a bus and headed towards thefactory area. The bus was reallycrowded. At every stop more and morepeople got on and hardly anyoneseemed to get off. People were pushingothers to make more space forthemselves. My cousin guided me to acorner so that we wouldn't getsquashed. I wondered how peopletravel like this every day. As the busentered the factory area people startedgetting off. We also got off soon at acrossing. What a relief that was!

There were a large number of peoplesitting on railings or in groups at thecrossing. They seemed to be waiting forsomeone. Some groups had people onscooters standing by and talking withthem. My cousin explained that thisplace was called "labour chowk". Thesewere daily wage labourers who workas helpers to masons. They dig atconstruction sites, lift loads or unload

Why did Harpreet and Vandanastart a showroom? What do theyhave to do to run the showroom?

Talk to a shop owner in a marketand find out how he plans his work.Have there been any changes in hisbusiness in the past twenty years?

What are the differences betweenthose who sell on the street andthose in the market?



trucks in the market, dig pipelines andtelephone cables and also build roads.There are thousands of such casualworkers in the city.

We entered the factory area to find itfull of small workshops. There seemedto be endless rows of them. In onesection we saw people working in asmall room on sewingmachines where cloth wasbeing stitched. One personoperated one sewingmachine. Clothes that hadbeen stitched were stackedon one side of the room.

We located Nirmala inthe stitching unit. She washappy to meet my cousinand promised to get zariwork done on my dress.

Nirmala works as atailor in an export garmentunit. The factory whereshe works makes summer

clothes for people in foreigncountries like U.S.A., U.K.,Germany and Netherlands.Workers like Nirmala have towork very long hours in themonths from December toApril. A normal working daybegins at 9 a.m. and finishesonly by 10 p.m., sometimeseven later. She works for sixdays a week. At times whenthe work needs to be doneurgently, she works onSundays, too. Nirmala is paidRs 80 a day for eight hours

and Rs 40 extra for workinglate. By June the work is over

and the factory reduces its staff.Nirmala will also be asked to leave. Forabout three or four months in the year,there is no work for her.

Most workers, like Nirmala, areemployed on what is known as acasual basis i.e. they're required to

At labour chowk, daily wage workers wait with their toolsfor people to come and take them for work.


come as and when theemployer needs them.They are employed whenthe employer gets largeorders or during certainseasons. At other timesof the year they have tofind some other work.

Jobs like Nirmala's arenot permanent. If workerscomplain about their payor working conditionsthey are asked to leave.There is no job security orprotection if there is illtreatment. They are alsoexpected to work very long hours.For example in the cloth mill unitsthe workers work on day and nightshifts, with each shift lasting 12hours. One worker works on onemachine for 12 hours and then isreplaced by another on the samemachine for the next 12 hours.

Working in Call Centres is a new form of employment inthe big cities. A Call Centre is a centralised office thatdeals with problems and questions that consumers/customers have regarding goods purchased and serviceslike banking, ticket booking, etc. Call Centres aregenerally set up as large rooms with work stations thatinclude a computer, a telephone set and supervisor'sstations. India has become a major centre not only forIndian companies but also foreign companies. They setup Call Centres here as they can get people who canspeak English and will work for lower wages.

1. Why do you think smallworkshops and factoriesemploy casual workers?

2. Describe the workingconditions of people likeNirmala keeping in mind thefollowing: working hours,conditions in the workplace,earnings, and the days ofwork available.

3. Would you say thatdomestic workers likehousemaids are also casualworkers? Why? Describe theworkday of one such womandetailing the work she doesin other peoples' houses.

In the office area

My aunt, Sudha works as a MarketingManager. She had asked us to reach her officebefore 5.30 p.m. We thought we'd get late sowe took an autorickshaw that managed to getus there just in time. Her office was in an areasurrounded by tall buildings. There werehundreds of people coming out. Some headedfor the car park while others went towardsthe row of buses.

My aunt is a marketing manager in acompany which manufactures biscuits. Thefactory where the biscuits are made isoutside the city. She supervises the work of50 salespersons who travel to different parts


of the city. They get orders fromshopkeepers and collect payments fromthem. She has divided the city into sixregions and once a week she meets thesalespersons of each region. Shechecks their progress report anddiscusses problems they face. She hasto plan the sales in the entire city andoften has to work late and travel todifferent places.

She gets a regular salary everymonth and is a permanent worker withthe company. She can expect her job tocontinue for a long period of time. Beinga permanent worker she also getsother benefits such as the following:

Savings for old age: A part of hersalary is kept in a fund with thegovernment. She will earn interest onthese savings. When she retires fromthis job she will get this money andshe can then live on that.

Holidays: She gets off on Sundaysand national holidays. She also getssome days as annual leave.

Medical facilities for her family: Hercompany pays the medical expenses upto a certain amount for her and herfamily members. She gets medicalleave if she falls ill and her salary isnot cut if she takes this leave.

There are many workers in the citywho work in offices, factories, andgovernment departments where theyare employed as regular andpermanent workers.

They attend the same office orfactory regularly. Their work is clearlyidentified. They get a regular salary.Unlike casual workers they will not beasked to leave if the factory does nothave much work.

At the end of the day we got into myaunt's car, exhausted. But it had beenso much fun! And I thought, howinteresting that so many people do somany different things in the city.They've probably never met each otherbut it is their work that ties themtogether and helps to make up city life.

QUESTIONS

1. Read and discuss the following description of the living conditions ofworkers who come to the labour chowk.

Most workers that we find at the labour chowk cannot afford permanentaccommodation and so sleep on pavements near the chowk, or they payRs 6 a night for a bed at a nearby night shelter run by the MunicipalCorporation. To compensate for the lack of security, local tea andcigarette shops function as banks, moneylenders and safety lockers, allrolled into one. Most workers leave their tools at these shops for the nightfor safekeeping, and pass on any extra money to them. The shopkeeperskeep the money safely and also offer loans to labourers in need.

Source: Aman Sethi, Hindu On-line


3. In what ways is a permanent and regular job different from a casualjob? Discuss.

4. What benefits does Sudha get along with her salary?

5. Fill in the following table to show the services provided by people inthe markets which you visit frequently.

2. Complete the following table and discuss how their work is different:

Nature of the service providedName of the shop or office

Name Place of

workEarnings

Security ofwork

Benefitsreceived

Work ontheir own or

employed

BachchuManjhi

Rs 100 a day

Harpreet,Vandana

Work on theirown

Nirmala No security

Sudha Company Rs 30,000 p.m.

Documents

Urban Livelihoods