Over a month after the demonetisation was announced, daily wage labourers who gather at Hauz Qazi Chowk in Old Delhi are a distressed lot, thanks to the lack of work.
The Hindu’s visit to the chowk on November 24, two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement, found the daily wagers out of work, but positive that something good would come out of it.
But on Wednesday, some of the workers here couldn’t contain their anger any more. “People are talking about black money at a time when we are unable to have one meal a day,” said Dhanveer, a construction worker from Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun.
He added that the only jobs the workers found were those that didn’t pay much. Opening a clogged drain isn’t the same as working on a construction project, Dhanveer added.
In the pre-demonetisation days, carpenters, painters and construction workers would gather at the busy intersection near Chawri Bazar in the morning and get picked up for jobs around the city.
Relying on charity
But since November 9, which is when the government withdrew the Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 currency notes, the workers have been unable to make ends meet. Relying on the charity of nearby restaurant-owners and free meals at gurdwaras, the workers said managing a meal had become a struggle.
But, despite the lack of work, they still spend the day — from 8 a.m. to about 5.30 p.m. — at the chowk, hoping to pick up some odd jobs. “We used to make Rs.15,000 to Rs.20,000 a month, but since the notebandi was announced, I haven’t even made Rs.2,000. Work has dried up completely. No one has the money to pay us,” said Nawab Singh, another construction worker from Badaun.
‘Nothing to do’
Nawab Singh, who would return home every 15 days, has been unable to do so since November as he can’t afford the trip.
To make matters worse, he has been unable to pay the rent for his room in nearby Sitara Gali and doesn’t know how long the landlord will wait.
Kalu, a painter from Moradabad who has been working in Delhi for decades, said he had “nothing to do” since the demonetisation was announced. “This has put India back by 10 years,” he said.
