No job or money in sight, daily wage labourers hit hard

Pune: Daily wage worker Srinivas Yemul was unable to find work on Monday for the fifth consecutive day. Yemul does all types of work, including painting walls, cleaning, gardening and carrying loads, but nobody’s hiring him these days.
Sitting at a ‘majoor adda’ (a place where labourers gather to be hired) in Budhwar Peth on a chilly morning, Yemul said demand for work had dropped after demonetization and the resultant cash crunch.“I do not understand much about what has happened, but the move has led to a drop in work availability. Though people say things will improve, I don’t know when,” he said.
Another worker, Shankar Raju, said besides no work there were issues of payments. Raju said he recently worked at a factory for three days but was yet to receive payment as his supervisor told him that he will be able pay him only next month.
Daily wage workers at Warje Naka, too, complained about lack of work. Piraji Dudhne said he was supposed to join as a helper at a construction site, but was told by the manager that the work had been postponed. “People said the ongoing slump will continue for the next few days. We will have a hard time till the situation improves,” he added.
Vikas Hole, who hires workers on contract, said: “Work assignments were down because of month-end and things are expected to improve next month when more cash will flow in. Most of the payments are done in cash and it is difficult to establish digital payment gateways as this is a largely unorganised sector.”
Besides daily wage workers, the daily income of porters and helpers attached to the wholesale markets has also taken a considerable hit because of fewer loading-unloading assignments.