[Marxism] The Condition of Construction Workers in the National Capital Region of Delhi

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A Report by Nirman Majdoor Shakti Sangathan (NMSS), affiliated to New Trade 
Union Initiative (NTUI), on condition of Construction Workers in the National 
Capital Region of Delhi.
http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv14n2/construction.htm
They build houses and are seen arduously and meticulously laying bricks on 
cement-sand mortar up to hundreds of metres in height stepping on dangerously 
built make-shift ladders of bamboo loosely tied by coconut ropes and risking 
their lives only to make somebodyâs dream home come true. But what about 
their own life? They are condemned to live in shanty hutments just below the 
building which they are making. And once the building is complete they have to 
shift with their meagre belongings to another construction site. And again the 
same vicious circle moves. They can never dream of their own roof. How can 
they? They donât even get the minimum wages and whatever money they get is 
totally insufficient to meet their daily ration. They live a life of just above 
stray animals.
This is the sad tale of the construction workers. There are such 8.5 million 
workers engaged in building and other construction activities in India. They 
constitute the most vulnerable segment amongst the unorganised workforce in the 
country owing to their temporary nature of work and lack of a definite 
employee-employer relationship. Apart from this there is neither a fixed 
working hour, nor any documentation like an employee register, attendance, etc 
.maintained by the employers due to the temporary nature of assignment.
The risk to life and limb is manifold more than that of their counterparts 
engaged in other organised/unorganised sectors. They do not get any proper 
medical facility and any statutory grievance mechanism is also totally absent 
for them. Whatever statutory provisions exist for them the apathetic 
bureaucratic machinery has made it so labyrinthine and complicated that it is 
beyond the limit of an ordinary worker to approach any such forum or 
institutional body. The indifferent attitude of the central and respective 
state governments has compelled the construction and building workers to live 
in utter exploitation and deprivation. There is no scene of the end of 
injustice perpetrated upon them by both their employers and the state machinery 
in the near future.
Most of the construction workers are migrant labourers and landless labourers 
from U.P, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and other 
economically weaker regions of India. A majority of them are OBC, Dalit or 
Scheduled tribes who come to urban centres like Delhi, Mumbai and other Metros 
and cities in search of either livelihood or to supplement their earnings 
during the lean period when their main source of employment ( agriculture and 
other peripheral activities associated with it) is not available in season 
(i.e. in non-sowing season).

Full article at http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv14n2/construction.htm
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Lal Salam (Red Salute)

P (India)


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