The Hindu Business Line : Dabbawala model — a unique Mumbai phenemenon

The more-than-a-century-old Mumbai dabbawala is a phenomenon that can work only in Mumbai and this service could not be duplicated anywhere else in the country, according to leaders of the dabbawalas.

They are also confident that despite the social changes that are taking place, this phenomenon would thrive in the megapolis in the coming years.

Speaking at a BL Club seminar held at Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, (SKCET), Coimbatore, Mr Raghunath D. Medge, President, Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Sup.Charity Trust, and its Chief Information Officer, Mr Manish Tripathi, said that starting from 1890, the Mumbai dabbawalas have become a 5,000 strong force now.

They were engaged in the collection of lunch boxes from two-lakh households from across the city for delivery at the work spots and back home again.

Despite being semi-literate, they have developed their own coding system for the error-free delivery of four-lakh lunch boxes (two lakh either way) and their error rate was a mere one in 16 million transactions! Even this was due to unforeseen circumstances.

They said the cumulative annual revenue generated by the dabbawalas was about Rs 36 crore. Irrespective of the distance, they charged Rs 300 per box per month, though in stray cases, they charged a higher amount due to size or distance. They did not employ any sophisticated technology for tracking the movement of the lunch boxes and did not use any motor vehicle for transport. Other than the suburban train service, the transportation was done on pushcarts, cycles and by foot.

Mr Medge said the dabbawalas have been doing their work without any interruption except due to untoward incidents like bomb blasts or disruption in train services. If for any reason a dabbawala is not able to report for work, he has to arrange a substitute. They are a close-knit community as they all belong to the same Varkari sect and there are even third-generation dabbawalas.

Mr Manish Tripathi said though nearly 85 per cent of the dabbawalas were illiterate, their work has attracted worldwide attention and they have now become subject of study by even business schools.

He said the dabbawala service was something unique to Mumbai. Though there were talks of replicating the Mumbai model in cities such as Hyderabad and Bangalore, he doubted whether this could be done elsewhere.

He said the system was working in Mumbai so successfully because of the low-cost suburban train service that covered the entire metro and the close-knit family of dabbawalas from the same sect.

The organisation was given last month an ISO certification for quality service, though most of the dabbawalas do not understand what it is. To them, work is worship. In their 116 years of existence, they have never gone on strike even once!

He said the dabbawala system was the most democratic system in the world in that every one was paid the same amount after deducting expenses like train tickets.

With growing population, the demand for their service would only grow. Hence, even after 10-15 years the demand for their service would continue.

Dr S. Subramanian, Principal, SKCET, Mr Richard Regis, Director, School of Management, SKCET, and Mr Rajkumar, Senior Regional Manager-Circulation, The Hindu, Coimbatore, also spoke at the meeting that was attended by management students from different colleges in the city.

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