Sunday, 26 April 2009
Coolie O Coolie
I was standing at platform 1 of New Delhi railway station and my train was suppposed to start from platform 12. The luggage was too much for me to carry so decided to take a coolie. I saw some coolies standing just outside platform 1. One of them agreed to carry my heavy luggage to platform 12 and demanded 60 Rs as his labour charge to which I readily agreed. Labour indeed is very cheap in India. You realise this specially when you reach India from any developed country. Coolies represent the readily available unskilled labour in India. I wonder if the railway stations had escalators on platofrms what would these coolies do to earn their living. Most of the coolies are past 45 well past the age when they can acquire any specialised skills. I believe I am a modern man who always advocates the use of technology but a simple technological advancement like installing escalators on railway platforms would deprive many labourers of their right to earn a living. I also believe that these esacalators would make life and travel easy for all the travellers using railways. This indeed is a catch 22 situation. This predicament indicates towards a very serious labour problem in India. Is it possible for such a huge population to become skilled workers?Perhaps an optimist would say Yes but realistically speaking I do not think so. Even if we assume that it is possible, do we have enough jobs for these skilled workers in India. The government of India instead of beating its chest about its contribution towards the progress of this nation, which I believe is a progress driven by some great Indian corporate leaders, should take serious note of the situation of unskilled labourers in India. The corporate world has done a lot to create jobs for skilled workers in India ; it is the duty of Indian government to provide opportunities to those who are not lucky enough to acquire those skills and come up with a solution to which I have no answer in my mind
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A very sensitive problem has been touched in the blog. Truth does not lie in malls, posh colonies of metropolitan cities, IT industries and convent schools. Real India still lies in its 6.38 lacs villages where more than 22 crores of people are bound to live below poverty line. 77% Indians get only Rs.25 per day in exchange of their labor. Majority of such Indians are engaged in unskilled jobs of coolies in construction of buildings, roads, dams, factories, agriculture, domestic , tea-stalls, dhabas, commercial complexes, houses of riches and at railway stations. If all the children of India above age of 5 years decide to go to schools, there will be no space there even for standing up. In 75 thousands Govt. run schools, there are no classrooms. These ill-fated children are bound to adopt the profession of coolies when they are grown up. The interest of these citizens should be taken care of. Importance of technology can’t be denied in modern age, but blind mechanization should be avoided. We should never forget that more than 50% of Indian population is engaged in unskilled jobs.
ReplyDeleteAn overseas Indian living in a western modern city of London sensed the problem by the core of his heart; it is good sign for future.It is praiseworthy.