The Hindu Business Line : All work and some more

Most private outfits work on public holidays with little compensation. The work practices are turning humans into morons drinking and smoking their weekends before the routine starts.

CHHOTU is 23 years old, an M.A. in economics from Mumbai University and works in a foreign bank in the euro-payment section. When he bagged the job about seven months ago he phoned me to give me the news. "Uncle, naukari mil gaya (I have got a job)," an excited Chhotu told me. Today, Chhotu is a dried up human; he gets up, goes to work and returns to bed. For about Rs 8,000 a month, he has to work more than 12 hours (9 a.m. to 9.30 p.m.), five days a week, tapping computer keys to okay payments in and out of Mumbai.

Last week one had a long chat with him while travelling in a Churchgate-bound local. A lady in charge of training from the bank's European headoffice is impressed with Chhotu's work and recommended a quick promotion, which was turned down as "it is too much."

The lady has 20 young boys and girls under her and one Saturday she took them out for lunch. At the hotel the lady expressed surprise over the long working hours. "In our country we shut down after six hours at the work table. We just walk out once the time is up and do not bother if the next shift has turned in. Also, you folks are paid less than us in Europe. This is not on," she told them.

Chhotu and his friends are aware of the work pattern in the European offices but cannot do anything as any protest will mean losing jobs; there are many outside the gate who will come in for a lower pay packet; indeed, protest is banned.

One day, the lady latched on to Chhotu to have a feel of travelling in Mumbai's locals; mid-way she dropped out at Bandra and took a taxi to the Taj hotel where she was staying. "Oof, the crowd and noise are too much. How do you manage it every day?" she asked Chhotu in amazement. The fellow had no reply.

A month ago on a forest trip one came across a software engineer and another working in a call centre, both in their late 20s. The software engineer works in a foreign company based in Bangalore and spends about 12 hours at the office. "When one project gets over another turns up. While a project is on I do double shifts. There is money in it but no time to use it. Again a software engineer in the parent company in US works lesser hours for a bigger pay packet. I am always irritable at home and my grandmother has to face my wrath. Poor woman, she gets up at midnight to warm the food and rarely sees me during the day," he confessed and added, "I have joined a yoga course recently but am not a regular as office work disturbs any schedule. I do not think I will be able to last out."

It's the same story with my friend who works for months on night shifts at the call centre. "Boss, I sleep the whole day and do not have any time to even watch a crow or a cow." The fellow is an electrical engineer and would like to join an NGO working on protecting forests. "I hope I can save some money to quit the job and indulge my passion. Again what hurts is we are being used by the foreigners with no labour laws to cover us," he said.

One has a few friends in foreign wire agencies and most of them slog for more than eight hours a day when their colleagues overseas log out after six hours. "They simply walk off, earn more and have time to do what they want," one friend tells me. Invariably, the wire agencies based in the country are headed by foreigners who are on a higher pay scale. "The discrimination is too evident," says a friend of mine.

The habit is spreading to Indian companies. In Mumbai, most private outfits work on public holidays with little compensation. The work practices are turning humans into morons drinking and smoking their weekends before the routine starts on Mondays.

In many ways they are no different from 20-year-old Surya who lives in a slum in Borivili. One can see him at 5 in the morning cleaning the autorickshaw, which he has taken on rent from a builder. From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Surya drives the auto to earn about Rs 100 a day. When he gets time he sees a movie as that is all that he can afford.

Till 1990 the Soviet development model did not offer any jobs. The US version (or is it feudalism) adopted since provides jobs. But the free market economy seems to be eating away young men and women in probably the most iniquitous manner. Are any local skills being built? Is a doleful life worth the dollars and is it not, most importantly, unfair business practice?

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