Hauling cement sacks on back, and hoisting tiles onto his head, gently carrying them upstairs on the foot overbridge is no different than shouldering passenger luggage for Imratlal Prajapati, except for three reasons. As a construction worker, he earns much less, can’t take breaks as per convenience and the job is irregular.
And, the uncertainty of the work duration is anxiety-inducing. “We don’t even know till when will this work last,” said Mr. Prajapati, a porter at the Bhopal railway station. “Each tile we carry equals four passenger bags. We were labourers even before, and our own masters.”
With trains suspended in view of the COVID-19 lockdown, around 40 of the 122 porters at the station have taken to construction work on the premises to battle hunger and tide over unemployment. Part of the overbridge on platform number 3 collapsed in February, and its revamp has been due since.
The porters perform all kinds of unskilled labour — hammering into old tiles, heaving debris, and lugging rods, for eight hours a day. Whereas, masons take over laying of tiles and plastering them.
Batches of porters work on alternate days for ₹350. “There is barely any food at home. But there is no work for every porter at the same time. We have to give our brothers a chance too,” said Mr. Prajapati. When the trains ran, he made ₹500 every day.
The uncertainty of work pushed unskilled workers, mostly migrants from the hinterland, to return to their villages. And this caused a paucity. “So, we proposed to the porters if they wanted to work at the revamp site,” said the contractor’s representative, requesting anonymity.
“The condition of porters has reached a hunger crisis,” said Radhesham Chouksey, a porter for 10 years.
Pending rent
Furiously breaking older tiles, Rambabu Bhilala, from Shajapur, said his rent was ₹3,000 every month. “I haven’t paid it for four months now. There are two children, wife and parents to feed at home.”
