Manual laborers and their sorry state - A topic I wish to write about but refrained because of the pain it would cause and also for fear of inviting backlash, probably but nevertheless, it cannot do much harm by writing about it on a blockchain, hopefully.
India is a densely populated country and probably has overtaken China as the most populated one in the world. For someone who has never visited India, you cannot even imagine the scale of what this all means. If you land in Mumbai which also has the world's largest slum areas, you will be astounded by the number of people you could meet as you try to walk. You will also know what the number one in population means when you stand in a queue for getting something and also if you are appearing for a competitive examination.
Where am I getting at?
Read on.
So, the number of people who are competing against each other for getting jobs is huge and only the lucky ones get in. The others have to try for other jobs and some even take up menial jobs because one has to eat food to survive.
Regarding education, most people send their children to government-run schools that offer free education and a morning meal in primary schools. The middle-class people grind day and night to educate their children and somehow make sure that the children go past senior secondary and get a college degree so that they get a good job.
Who is left behind?
Often, poor and uneducated parents cannot afford to educate their children and so the children themselves take to manual labor and start working during their teenage years. Many young teenage boys accompany their father or their uncle to work sites in faraway states such as in the south and live in dilapidated buildings with no proper utilities or food and work hard from the morning till the evening and earn some money. The money they earn is usually handed over after a week but unscrupulous contractors do not do this sometimes and are often cheated. Such is the case and there have been many cases where laborers who do not speak the local language are sent away without their money. Some even lose lives because of unsafe sites.
I really pray that the government does something to improve the conditions of such people and help give them proper housing, medical facilities, ensured wages, and some sort of organization that prevents them from being cheated. it is not enough to just sympathize with them. Those who have the power should do it and not just beg for votes during the elections.
The notion that a powerful leader should be revered and respected because of his power and money are wrong and the poor and illiterate people are often bullied into voting for the wrong set of people. It is time, the people themselves tried to improve their lives through family planning, management of funds, and striving for a better future for their children. Girls should also be given a good education and a chance to prove themselves instead of just being married off to some stranger without a chance to live life happily.