Casual workers hit hard due to cash crunch

RAJKOT: Raiya Chowk, Hanuman Madhi Chowk and Mavdi Chowk — the three gathering points for casual labourers — present a rather gloomy picture these days.
After Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were rendered invalid on November 8, the resultant cash crunch has hit lives of most labourers who worked as masons at construction sites. Getting work is becoming increasingly difficult for these people who are completely dependent on daily wages.
“Poor people, especially those who are engaged in casual labour, will be wiped out from the market and we fear that we will not find work to survive,” said Nanji Mucchadiya, a casual mason, who finds work at Raiya Chowk kadiya naka daily.
“I have been going to a government construction site near the university but work there will last only for a week. After that, I fear there will be no work in the market,” said Mucchadiya, the only bread-winner for his five-member family.
“Earlier, we used to get Rs 700 daily but this has come down to Rs 600. Moreover, it was easy to get work at kadiya nakas earlier. But since a month, we don’t get work for more than two to three days at a stretch. This is a very scary situation,” said Divyesh Sachaniya, who is the only earning member in his four-member family.
Labouers said that whatever little work that they get in the construction industry is due to the old sites which are nearing completion and no new site has come up in Rajkot.
“There are some ongoing construction works at old sites which have to be completed due to obligation. Once the work is over there, the worst period will begin for labourers,” Sachaniya added.