Mysuru: “Please take me with you…” “I will come along and do whatever work assign to me…” “I am desperate for work as my fields are ruined…” “My children will sleep hungry if I don’t get work…”

These are a few typical ways daily wage workers try to convince work contractors or mestris for a day’s labour and it is up to the mestri who will take a final call on whom to take and whom not to take along with him.

This is the routine followed every day, rain or shine, at various points in the city including Sri Nagaraj Talkies at Mandi Mohalla, Kuvempunagar Complex, 101 Ganapathi Temple at Agrahara, near Teresian College, Hebbal Surya Bakery, Andani Circle at Vidyaranyapuram and SJCE near Manasagangothri.

Standing at these junctions between 7 am and 9 am, one gets to hear such lines and much more. Mestris come either in their two-wheelers with autos or mini-vehicles following them or they bring in their own vehicles to take these daily wagers to the workspot for manual labour.

After supervising the nature of work and the number of labourers required, the mestri decides on who will be needed for the manual work. He randomly picks up a few men and his keen eyes examine the physical built and stamina of the labourers before they are selected. Those who are picked up are told to get inside the vehicles.

The cycle repeats till about 9 am and those who do not manage to get any work return home empty-handed. Apart from the physical strength what counts in such selections is that previous experience, skills and, of course, the payment factor where the mestri and the worker bargain with each other and decide on the final price to be paid after the work is done.

Once the work is completed in the evening, the labourers are ferried back to the place from where they were picked. Some of the workers, before leaving their homes, borrow “daily loans” and pay a daily interest of Rs. 10 for Rs. 100.

With that money, they come to the city either in trains or buses or share-tempos. They repay the loans along with the interest if they are lucky to get work. If not, they will have to return the loan the next day with double the interest.

Along with local labourers, people come to city from Nanjangud, Chamarajanagar, Hullahalli, Badanakuppe, Kavalande, Shivapura, Arave, Mallur, Murnakoodu and Keerlipura in search of daily wage work.

Almost all of them who come via trains get down at Chamarajapuram and Ashokapuram Railway Stations and walk till the nearest pickup point. Trains are a cheap means of transport as they can travel from Nanjangud and Chamarajanagar by paying Rs. 10 to Rs. 15 and the fare won’t be burdensome.

Of late there has been an increase in the number of labourers, thanks to the marked decrease in agricultural activities either due to excessive rainfall or for the lack of it.

Small and marginal land owners have chosen daily wage to support their families instead of slogging in the fields for a little or absolutely no returns.

Unwilling to sell the land they have got from their forefathers, most of the small farmers have opted for manual labour. Says Kariya Gowda of Shivapura village, a farmer who has now become a daily wager: “What can we do? Weather is playing truant and most of the government schemes do not reach us. We cannot sell the land as this crisis is temporary and we are hoping to get good crop next year.”

On an average, a worker earn up to Rs. 450 per day. “We get work only for 15 days in a month and that too if we are lucky. Most of the days we return empty handed and it is tough to see our hungry wife and children,” says Basavaraju of Kavalande.

“Many a times, we start our work in empty stomach as we would not have eaten when laving our homes at the crack of dawn and only a tea and some snacks at 11 am give us relief. It is so relieving to get the day’s wages and leave for our homes,” says Kumar, a labourer from Chamarajanagar.

Rangaswamy from Nanjangud says that he has a couple of brothers who have grabbed all family land, depriving him of his rightful share of the property. “With no alternative, I have to work as a daily wager to support my family needs. Income here is very irregular and depends on the work we get,” he says.  

“It is tough to do such work when you have your own house and field at your village. We are not depending on anybody and even the government and we believe that one has to earn one’s own bread. But it is hard to digest the governments that claim pro-farmer are not doing much to alleviate our suffering,” exclaims Marappa from Hullahalli.

Governments might come and governments might go but they make no difference to these daily wagers.

There are no free lunches to them and food is assured only if they toil all day. Government welfare schemes mean nothing for them and their life is an unending struggle…