No work, air of uncertainty leave daily wage labourers anxious once again

gurugram: Already beaten down by the shutdown of construction activities due to severe air pollution, daily wage workers in Gurugram are now again staring at an uncertain future with almost no work coming in as the third wave of Covid-19 rages through the country.

While the Haryana government, like many others, has been extremely cautious about imposing a lockdown, several restrictions have been put in place in light of the rapid spread of the virus and the increasing number of containment zones.

As a result, small-time construction activities have nearly come to a standstill while large-scale construction activities in the city have also slowed down to a considerable extent amid fears that this wave would be as bad as the previous one.

What is proving to be even more of a setback is the fact that most of December, owing to the ban on construction activities (due to air pollution) most of the daily wage labourers did not have work and continued to struggle financially.

Fearing that the situation may worsen in the coming weeks, most of Gurugram's labourers — especially from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are now contemplating going back to their villages.

"In my view, I don't think that they will impose a lockdown but yes a lot of curbs are going to be placed and this is going to affect the work opportunities for most of us. We are hoping that things improve for the better and we can again start making some money. If not, we will have to go back to villages as it is becoming difficult to survive financially for the past few months," said Bhola Ram, a small-time mason contractor in the city.

22-year-old Monu who is looking for alternate ways to earn his living said, "It is very difficult to sustain yourself when you are working as a daily wager. The condition has not been good for the last two months. I am looking for alternate ways of earning money like washing cars and sweeping but that is also not enough for me to get enough resources."

Home to a large number of daily wage workers, Gurugram has again seen an outpouring of help from Good Samaritans, who are coming forward to help these workers in these testing times. While people are helping out in whatever ways they can, most are trying to help financially, cooking food for them and even organising free Covid testing.

"These are difficult times and I really hope that this is also a time where people who are blessed with enough resources must also come forward and help others who are not that fortunate. I am doing my bit and will continue to help most of the daily wage labourers in my limited capacity," said Ravinder Yadav, a local builder in Gurugram, who is providing free food to workers in his neighbourhood and also helping them with money as much as he can.