'We have not learnt begging, we want work'
Wahida Mitu
Like every day yesterday Dulal, Abdul Motaleb and Ratan, three well-built day labourers from Badda Post Office slum woke up early in the morning and walked a short distance with their spades and baskets in hands. The three men joined a group of over hundred waiting men by the Badda roadside. The April morning sun started to heat up by 8am. The men waited eagerly for someone to come and hire them for the day for a meagre daily wage of Tk 120. As the clock ticked away, some of the faces looked increasingly worried with a fear that the day might not bring any luck for them. The fear was not unfounded. For over three months now work for these men has remained elusive. Since the interim government took over most activities in the city's booming construction sector has virtually come to a standstill, sending thousands like Dulal, Motaleb and Ratan out of work. "These days we come here for work and most of the time we have to return to the slum after borrowing some money for our food, there is hardly any work for us any more" said a tense Dulal, who had not found any work for the last four days. "Nowadays we are able to get work twice or thrice a week at the most and I find it difficult to run my family," Dulal said. Nearby sat Abu Hanif, a fragile looking man in his mid-twenties. Overhearing Dulal's comment on finding jobs Hanif said that he had been surviving on his wife's income, who works in a garment factory. "Throughout the entire week I got work only for a day," said Hanif. Ratan said that unable to find labourer's job he joined the local bus services as a helper for a very low handout. Abul Kalam an elderly man from Barguna, about 270 kilometers south of the capital, now living in Badda said that he was too old to take a risky job of a bus helper. "The younger people have options for work but I am too old to do any other job than digging," Kalam said. By 11am the waiting men grew more anxious. They knew chances of finding jobs for the day grew slimmer now. Usually the work hours for these day labourers stretch from 9am to 5pm. "Yesterday I passed my day without work. If I have no work today I have to borrow money from my friends, I have to buy things on credit. My debt is mounting day by day," said Motaleb. "I left my home district Barguna as there was no work there and I am also in heavy debt there. I came to Dhaka a year ago leaving my family there just to work and pay back my debts," he added. Ratan, Dulal, Motaleb and lots of other day labourers voiced the same concern. They said if there is no work they would face an uncertain future. "We have not learnt begging, we are young and we want work. These days I am worried about the future," said Dulal. "Is there no solution to overcome the present situation?" Asked Dulal. "How long can we remain workless?" Whenever a stranger approached the area, the men surrounded him with the hope of getting a work. The plight of these work-seeking men becomes even worse when some unscrupulous contractors cheat them. The contractors arrive at the spot, hire a dozen men, take them to a construction site and disappear with the money they take in advance from the site engineers. More and more people from rural Bangladesh are joining the 100 or more labour spots in the city these days. And most of these hard working people are unaware of their rights. Most of them have not even heard of the May Day that represents all toiling masses of this planet.
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