Most migrant workers in misery, says pre-Covid-19 study

Three months before the Covid-19 outbreak, a State-wide sample survey of construction workers had clearly established that 77% owned no land or were small and marginal farmers. Irregular income from agriculture forced them to migrate to cities for work, a fact dramatically exposed by the crisis.

The survey was part of a comprehensive study by Dr Y Narayana Chetty, retired Bangalore University professor and director, Alampally Chair on Labour Research. Covering 1,800 workers spread across 14 districts. the sample survey was completed in August 2019.

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The findings also revealed that 80% of the respondents were not part of any labour union, and 12.4% were even terrified of any union. They had to rely on contractors and make do with low wages that were often delayed.

The pandemic and a hastily announced lockdown had triggered a massive, nationwide migrant crisis. The shutdown of interstate trains and buses had forced thousands to walk back, triggering deaths and misery. That the migrants were already in a precarious situation was brought out tellingly by the survey.

Although the survey data was analysed by December 2019, it could not be collated and printed in time due to the constraints imposed by the pandemic, Dr Chetty told DH. “We will soon be submitting the entire report to the Chief Minister.”

Crisis amplified plight

Even before the Covid crisis amplified their extreme challenges, the workers had no access to proper transportation, accommodation, safe food, water and toilets. This too came out strongly in the survey. Indicating the inherent insecurity in their workplaces, most respondents pointed to wage cuts when any issue cropped up between the builder and contractor.

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Their illiteracy, as Dr Chetty put it, prevented them from aptly articulating their issues before the government to seek justice. Incidentally, almost a third of the survey respondents were illiterate. Over a third of the workers surveyed had only elementary reading and writing skills.

Long working hours, lack of medical help and dependence on usurious money lenders were all part of the workers’ everyday challenges, the survey showed. Among the districts covered by the study were Bengaluru urban and rural, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hassan, Shivamogga, Belagavi and Kalaburagi.