Construction work hit in metros as Biharis go home

Bihar, it seems, is no longer the source of unlimited cheap labour supply to power the booming construction industry in big cities across the country.

Skilled and semi-skilled labourers from Bihar who, over the past decade had left their homes to make a living in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, are now returning in large numbers. The reason: Under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s dispensation, the state is spending large amount of money in building public infrastructure, creating job opportunities for these workers nearer home. Besides, they also have the alternative of working under MNREGS that fetches them a daily wage of Rs 144.

Pravendra Yadav, a resident of a town near Patna, who worked as a carpenter in Bangalore for 10 years, is heading home. He intends to stay put in Bihar as the employment opportunities in the state are far better now. Ganpath, a mason with a local building contractor in the City, too, is returning to his roots.

These instances may appear as odd exceptions, but they are not. Enquiries with Bangalore’s real estate developers reveal that thousands of workers from Bihar are in fact packing their bags.

As a result, the construction industry is facing a crisis. According to many builders in the City, over the last two years, the construction work has witnessed a sudden slowdown due to acute shortage of skilled and unskilled workers. They estimate that at least 35 per cent of construction work has either been stopped or is witnessing cost escalation because of the mass exodus of labourers from Bihar.

“We had several workers from Bihar working as masons, carpenters etc. But there is a change in the trend since early 2011. Our contractors are finding it difficult to hire labourers from Bihar,” said Sachin Suresh, owner of Suraj Construction Group, which at present has two projects in Jayangar and J P Nagar.

Nandish Kanburgimath, another realtor, said: “They can be close home and don’t have to spend much on rentals and other expenditures. They also feel Bihar is safer than what it was a decade ago.”

“A skilled labourer earns between Rs 350-Rs 400 per day here. But considering the expensive city life, even Rs 250 offered to him in his home state is attractive,” he added.
Anil Hirani, a realtor heading a well-known company, said that labourers from outside find it difficult to sustain themselves and their family with the salary they earn here, while better employment opportunities in Bihar are luring them back.

M Ramesh, vice chairperson, Builders Association of India, Bangalore chapter, agreed there is a labour crisis. “We had a substantial number of Bihari labourers of which about 40 per cent have returned home,” said Ramesh.

Metro too hit

The ongoing Bangalore Metro construction work too has been hit, said Nanaji, an executive with Messrs Simplex, which is constructing a viaduct of Bangalore Metro in Reach-3.

“The basic reason for the labourers refusing to go to places like Punjab or Maharashtra is that public spending in Bihar (government allocation) in sectors like roads, schools and hospitals has increased manifold. As a result, an ordinary labourer even in remote areas of Bihar today earns enough for basic sustenance,” Bihar’s rural development minister Nitish Mishra told Deccan Herald on Friday.

“The figures of public spending in Bihar tell the story. From Rs 4,000 crore in 2005-06, the annual plan size has increased to Rs 24,000 crore for the fiscal 2011-12,” Mishra explained.

“It’s true that the farmers in Punjab are ready to give free bicycles and mobile phones to Bihari labourers but why should someone go to far-off places when he can earn Rs 144 under MNREGA in Bihar itself,” the minister asked.

(With inputs from Abhay Kumar in Patna)/ DHNS