Gurugram’s labour bazaar is deserted during election season… workers can earn Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 a day without working, and food is free

The Labour Chowk in Gurgaon, known as the ‘Millennium City’, looks deserted these days. It’s not that the workers are taking a day off because of the approaching festival. There is no ban on construction activities either. The reason why the Labour Chowk is so deserted is that today the workers have found a better option of attending political rallies instead of getting their daily wages. Every morning, the workers gather at marked places in the city, which are called ‘Labour Chowk’. Whoever needs workers at his place reaches the Labour Chowk, from where he takes the workers to work after ascertaining the wages etc.

Usually, labour bazaars are deserted before the festival as workers have gone back to their hometowns. During winter, Delhi-NCR is battling air pollution and construction activities are banned. Even during this time, labour bazaars are deserted. However, the campaigning of the parties for the October 5 assembly elections in Haryana is going strong. Political parties have to show huge crowd size at the rallies of their important leaders. There is a huge demand for these labourers at these rallies and for this, political parties hire them on daily wages.

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Each rally gets 800 to 1000 rupees.

Sundar, a labourer from Bihar who has been living in Gurugram for eight years, told PTI, “Most rallies of political parties and candidates require crowds. This work is less labour-intensive for us and we are paid a day’s wages. We get Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 per rally. If we go for labour, after a day’s hard work, we get a lot of money. That is why my family and I do not go to Labour rallies these days but political rallies.”

Go to the rally with your family

Sundar, a non-voter in Gurgaon. Either party representatives approach union leaders to gather crowds for rallies or workers go directly to candidates’ offices, he told. His wife works as a domestic help at home. She also attends political rallies these days along with her husband Sundar. “It is difficult for my wife to take leave. At home where she works, money is deducted when she takes leave. However, the pay they get for attending rallies is much better than what they lose on rest days, and there is free food,” Sundar told PTI.

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Another labourer, Mohan from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, registered as a voter in Gurgaon last year. Speaking to news agency PTI, he said, “Construction work is carried out according to the weather conditions. After the rains start, the work also decreases. October and November are the months of Diwali and Chhath, so the labourers return to their hometowns for the long holidays. In winter, construction activities come to a halt due to pollution and even during this time we cannot find work. So, I am participating in these rallies. There is no need to participate in rallies of the same party. I also participate in rallies of different parties. This is my first time voting in Gurgaon.”

It is the workers’ responsibility to gather the crowd.

A district-level worker of a political party confirmed that labourers were hired for the rally. Talking on condition of anonymity, he said, “When the central bosses come, there should be mass rallies to show strength. “We use our local network to get as many people as possible to the rally, but we also have to use some methods to show the crowd. Binny Singhala, a taxi driver in Gulhachika village on the border of Punjab and Haryana, said political rallies always require paying crowds.

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“We have approached taxi operators to provide vehicles and crowd gathering services for large political rallies anywhere in Haryana,” he said. Political parties pick up workers from Labour Chowk to attend local rallies. The workers are not obliged to vote for anyone and their wages are calculated based on daily wages. Generally, these people live in groups. This way the gatherings do not face any problems and can reach 50-100 people at a time. Haryana’s 90-member assembly will go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will take place on October 8.