Empowering lives of daily wage workers

Abstract

Talking about the daily wage worker specially focusing on the daily wage construction workers. If we look around the congested corners of Indian markets packed with narrow roads, alleys, heavy traffic, shops and small self-service eateries are called to the main markets of the city. The area starts humming with activity as early as 7 am. Among the first to arrive early morning to the self-made collection points usually the chauraha or the famous square in the city, here are daily wagers seeking employment. Defining daily wage workers as “Worker means any person who is employed for wages in any kind of work and who gets his wages directly from the employer but shall not include an apprentice and works on per day basis.” (Acc. To Bisheshwar Mishra & Sanjay Dutta/timesofindia.indiatimes.com/article show/may 05,2007) Talking about Indian labour market scenario according to Indo - Global Social Service Society Report India’s vast construction industry is a highly labour-intensive sector and is the second largest employer after agriculture. Informal/unorganized sector covers 93% of the total work force in India. About 6 crores of the construction industrial workers belonged to informal/unorganized sector out of which only 2.5 crore are registered with different Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW). On any working day we see 1,000-2000 workers waiting to be picked up for employment mostly as plumbers, painters, carpenters and masons. Women workers search for employment as helpers, mixing concrete or moving bricks. In construction industry there are workers mainly working on the daily wages which includes major construction work done by the rajmistry and their helper. The combination system of helper and mistry head is found in almost all categories of construction related jobs (rajmistry, centring, marble, colour, plaster, plumber, carpenter, electrician etc.,). Contractors or the people arrive to the collection points or labour hubs to pick up the day’s supply of workers, in which they chose most of whom they know by face mostly and by noon, those who can will have found a job, and rest leaves up with no employment and is a struggle for everyday in the same way and by afternoon 2 pm the labour hub are usually being emptied out. Finding a right person for work is difficult in these situations as the place and the scenario at these places is highly unorganized, no data is there regarding the labour and the work he/she works or skilled at creates confusion among the employers to choose between the people and for the wage workers to get the employment. Seeking various problem for both the employer and the wage workers.Among the earning folks, the wage earners suffer the greatest challenges due to inequality in payment, facilities and etc. These affect their standard of living and their rightful status in the society. They often go through pain, financial and social suffering which are not taken into consideration by anyone and problems remains untended. In this project work, to understand the problem faced by the daily wage construction workers in getting a proper employment and managing a status and good lives in a society, a design research and a though study of problems faced by wagers is being carried out and viable improvements and design solution to make the lives better and intervention to provide easy employment and possible ways to make the unorganized system organized and process easy to the wagers and the employers is being carried out. For the new intervention and design user behaviour and understanding the problem context are few major criteria’s which will be followed in the process.