Construction labourers at BMRCL sites ‘overworked’, ‘underpaid’

Ahna Prakash | NT

Every day, Sarju Ravidas wakes up before 6 am to cook food and get ready for his work shift at the Bengaluru Metro construction site. He says he works nonstop for 12 hours, from 7 am to 7 pm. He lives in a room provided by his contractor in Bannerghatta, from where he commutes up and down to Shivajinagar.

“I have no time to rest or even talk to anyone. When I reach home, I am too tired to even cook food some days. So, I end up sleeping on a hungry stomach. If I don’t show up on time, my contractor won’t pay me. At times, due to the heat and heavy work, my fellow workers have fainted on the site or fallen sick, but we have to continue working,” he told News Trail.

 Sarju migrated from Ran[1]chi, Jharkhand, in search of a job in the “big” city Bengaluru. He earns Rs 500 a day for the 12-hour shift. Another labourer Santosh Yadav from Ballia, Bihar, works on a metro construction site near Central Silk Board.

“We work for long hours because the contractor says we have to meet the given deadlines. Our salaries are often delayed, and we end up seeking help of trade unions to receive our hardearned money. The work is very tiring, and we have to work from morning to night. Sometimes, I think of quitting and going back to my wife and children in Bihar, but we need the money,” said Yadav.

These are not isolated cases. Hemalatha K, the national president of Centre of Indian Trade Union, said, “Karnataka CITU has rescued many such migrant workers. People have fought for workers’ rights and won, but I can’t deny that several big hurdles are still in the way. Though labour laws are in place, many contractors don’t follow them. Thousands of migrant families are barely able to survive with the meagre salaries they give. Most migrants are made to work for long hours, and are mostly not paid for the overtime work they put in