‘We have now to safeguard our rations from rodents’

Activists point to the irony of the workers who work to improve the poorly living civic institutions

While Sameena (name changed) works to level the sidewalk and help her husband plant seedlings, she keeps an eye on her three-year-old son who is playing nearby by himself. Sameena and her husband Sharief (name changed) are among the 30 or so workers who work on T. Chowdaiah Road.

The workers, who mostly come from different districts in the north of Karnataka, live on site in tents made of blue tarpaulin and sheet metal. There is only one portable toilet for all workers and their families.

When the daytime temperatures rise, these tents become inhospitable and the nights are no better. Plagued by mosquitos and rodents, sleep is difficult to pin down.

Shivamma (name changed) comes from Hoovina Hadagali. She has been in Bengaluru for three years and works as a worker on various projects. She has lived with her husband in a tent on Cunningham Cross Road for three months.

“We can handle the heat; It is the rodents and other vermin that give us sleepless nights. We have to protect our ration from them, ”she said.

All of these workers are working on road projects run by Bengaluru Smart City Ltd. (BSCL). Road improvement work has been carried out on around 35 streets in the central business district, most of which are just a stone’s throw from Raj Bhavan and Vidhana Soudha, the power centers of the state. However, they continue to live in poor conditions without adequate ventilation or other facilities.

According to Maithreyi Krishnan of All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU), workers should be given all facilities required by various laws including Construction and Other Construction Workers Act 1996, Contract Labor (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 and Inter State Migrant Workmen Act, 1970.

“Ideally, these workers should receive minimum wages, equal pay for equal work, and housing with basic facilities. The responsibility rests with the main employer, in this case BSCL, and the contractor. Any other agreement, such as B. subcontracting is considered illegal, ”she said.

The workers are working to improve civic facilities in the city, particularly within a three-mile radius of Vidhana Soudha, but they live in poor conditions, she stressed, saying AICCTU had conducted a survey on the living conditions of these workers.

More than a year ago, CIVIC Bengaluru, a non-profit organization, submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Labor on the poor living conditions of these workers. As a result, the department issued an order based on the model scheme of the Union Department of Labor and the guidelines of the Supreme Court, borrowed largely from the CIVIC’s memorandum for benefits to these workers, CIVIC’s Kathyayini Chamaraj pointed out.

However, after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the degree of implementation is unclear. Ms. Kathyayini added that she has now submitted an RTI application for information on it. “We raised the issue again in March and wrote to the Prime Minister of the Department of Urban Development, the BSCL and the Ministry of Labor. So far, however, there has been no answer, ”she claimed.

Hemanth Kumar of the Ashankura Trust, which works for the welfare of migrant workers, claimed that many labor laws were violated. There have been cases when contractors did not even pay compensation to workers injured on the construction site, he claimed. He said he would conduct an investigation into these workplaces and file a complaint about workers’ living conditions with the Department of Labor and BSCL.

BSCL General Manager P. Rajendra Cholan claimed he had received no complaint about workers’ living conditions. However, he admitted that as the primary employer, BSCL would ensure that contractors provide workers with all amenities, especially basic, well-ventilated housing.

“We are working to ensure that all pending work is completed by May. So far, around 60% of the work has been completed, ”he said, adding that if the contractors were negligent, BSCL would take strict action against them.