Poor struggle to find work amid economic slowdown

The hunt for work has become more desperate with each day on Delhi's street corner labour markets as India's economic slowdown bites deeper, mounting pressure on PM Modi with just half a year into his second term.

With the Central Bank cutting interest rates five times this year, patience is running thin at the "labour Chowk" or market, in the narrow streets of Old Delhi. But, on Thursday the Central Bank was unable to lower them any further because of high inflation.

The unemployment rate, currently around 8.5 per cent, has hit a four-decade high in the past two years.

Among the hundreds of painters, electricians, carpenters and plumbers who anxiously gather at dawn each day, a 55-year-old wretched painter, Tehseen has been a constant for three decades.

His monthly income has slumped from around Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 10,000 in the past two years. Fortunately, he still has a source of income.

Tehseen blames the government's efforts to eradicate tax-avoiding "unofficial economy". A government survey this year estimated that more than 90 per cent of the workforce is "unofficial".

Modi stunned the country in November 2016 by cancelling more than 80 per cent of the banknotes in circulation, along with the introduction of a nationwide goods and services tax, which hit a new blow to the business confidence, a year later.

Last week, official figures showed that the economy grew just 4.5 per cent in the second quarter, the slowest in six years. Modi's rightwing government is struggling to convince the public that it has the answers to the slowdown.

"Companies have suffered since demonetisation," said Tehseen.

"They do not want to think about getting their offices renovated when they have no business. We have to bear it's brunt now," he added.

Raju, a labour market carpenter for 20 years, said that he now goes on for days without a job offer.

"Work as well as money have gone down by 50 per cent than what I used to get," he said, adding that lower wages mean a harder time to get a meal on the table.

At the Old Delhi food market, Zarina Begum said that she sometimes has to return home with her bags empty. "The vegetables are just too expensive," said the 50-year-old housewife.

For days, her children have to survive on a meal of pulses or chickpea flour with oil.

Raj Kumar used to sell a meal of lentils and vegetables in his nearby restaurant for around four rupees. But shooting prices have forced him to demand around six rupees, which have hit the sales.

"I had to increase prices to keep up with the expenses. But people just don't have the money," he said.

Sandip Jain, a 45-year-old stonemason, said that people might have a positive image of Modi, but they are disappointed with his economic management.

"Every businessman is fretting about the economy. Those who use to end their day with Rs. 700, are now down to Rs. 270," he said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman eased restrictions on foreign investment and cut corporate taxes, for economic reforms. But that does little to boost public confidence in a country where millions survive on poverty wages.

The multi-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development stepped up pressure on Modi on Thursday by calling to bring down trade barriers and reform its "complex" labour laws that discourage hiring.

"Consumption has fallen because of the breakdown of the labour market," Ram Kumar from Tata Institute of Social Sciences told AFP.

He said Modi has given incentives to the private sector but companies have not responded and the economy has now worsened because the government remains tight-lipped on the slowdown.

Economist Sameer Narang said that the government need to see through its privatisation and other reforms but warned: "it will be a slow recovery for India from here on".

PHOTO CAPTION- Labourers sit on a handcart as they wait for work at a wholesale market in Delhi.

CREDITS- Reuters/DANISH SIDDIQUI