An annual haul from Samastipur to Delhi and back

It is a cold afternoon in Delhi. Daya Shankar and some other men from Bihar are huddled together around a cycle cart in Mahavir Enclave market waiting for work. While they bide their time, sharing thoughts about the problems they face back home, a salesman from a nearby furniture shop calls out to Shankar.

Would he cart an almirah to Palam colony for ₹100? This is his second trip for the day. The others will have to wait for their turn.

Most of these migrant workers at this market are engaged in conveying hardware or furniture to nearby colonies on their cycle carts or rickshaws. They are either from Samastipur or Purnia district of Bihar.

In search of employment

With no work in their native villages for most part of the year and unable to make a living from farming, they have no choice but to take the train to Delhi every few months to augment their income to sustain their families. “It is not possible to eke out a living,” explains Mohammed Salim from Banmankhi village, Purnea district.

According to estimates, 90 per cent of rickshaw and cart pullers in Delhi come from either Bihar or Uttar Pradesh. Most of them are the seasonal population that leave the villages after the peak agricultural season to find employment for a few months in the city only to return to their villages.

They are the nowhere people who divide their time between their villages and the national capital. In Delhi they are not even part of the population statistic since they don’t quite qualify as part of the migrant population that lives and works in the city on a more permanent basis. Thus, they are part of Delhi only for a few months.

Salim has been coming to Delhi every winter since 1984. “I have no agriculture land of my own but I sell mangoes, lychees and some seasonal vegetables which I buy directly from the farmers. Rest of the year I have no work, so I come to Delhi in winter and try to earn money.” Salim has already made two rounds with the cart since the morning and has earned ₹250.

It is with income generated in the city that he has been able to marry off his two daughters and send his two sons to a government school. “Even the poorest have to spend ₹2-3 lakh for the marriage of their daughters. We send money home every week by transferring it to our banks in Bihar.”

Like Salim, others also slog to earn between ₹8,000 and ₹10,000 a month. They come in groups of 15 to 20, living in Delhi in rented accommodation, with three to four men slumming it out in one room. Some of them have their own carts or cycle rickshaws. Those who don’t, work in furniture or hardware shops.

Living on camaraderie

“The fact is that we are surviving because of bhai bhandutv (camaraderie), sharing the room, cooking food together. We are able to send almost three-fourth of our income to our families for their upkeep and education of our children. We manage our lives here on a very frugal budget.”

However, Shivji Yadav is sceptical about the future of his two children, one studying in Class I and the other in Class VII in a government school. “I am the sole breadwinner of my family and though I very much want to, I can’t afford to send my two children to private schools. Children fail to learn anything because of the poor standard of education in government schools. Teachers come for barely a week a month. Forget about teaching, the children are not even given their entitled aahar (mid-day meal). I don’t think my children will ever get jobs when they grow up and they too will have to labour hard like me to earn a living.”

Jawahar Lal, who has not earned a single rupee so far in the day, is cynical. He does not possess agriculture land in his village, Hasanpur cheeni mill in Samastipur.

“It is during the harvesting season of potatoes that I stay in the village and work in the fields. Otherwise, there is no other work or source of income. Who wants to leave his family, the open spaces and clean air of the village? We do it because of compelling circumstances,” he laments.

Migrating, even temporarily, to the big city comes with a price. Many succumb to the pressure and get addicted to drugs. This often defeats the very purpose of their leaving their villages.

The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi

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