The observance of May 1 as Labour Day brings no hope for betterment to about 1 lakh labourers employed in Aligarh’s lock and hardware units when seminars, conferences and rallies were organized in different parts of the city to mark Labour  Day. Getting education for their children aged 8 to 14 years is a mirage. For earning little sums, they pay a heavy price in terms of their health by working in closed room under unhygienic conditions.

Busy in searching rags from the garbage container of Nagar Nigam kept at the roadsides in Aligarh Development Colony of Marris  road, Labour Day meant another day for Suneeta and RajKumari,  labourers engaged in Brick kiln in the unorganized sector.  Aligarh district ranking second in the state for  labours engaged in both the organized and unorganized sectors.  The offices of district magistrate and deputy labour commissioner have not come out with a single plan or project which can act as a silver lining in the process of welfare of labour. Although government has introduced more than 17 welfare scheme for labour but they are running on papers as out of 1 lakh, only 8000 labour are registered in labour department.

Belonging to large families, Suneeta work with her three sisters, all aged below 20 years and involved in rags picking business, to provide evening meals for her family.  Raj Kumari is the eldest among her six brothers and sisters.  Her other brothers are also engaged in a polishing locks factory.

Not only this, several poor and street girls  holding a sack on their back bigger than the children’s height do their duty of collecting useful rags in front of convents schools on Ramghat Road at the same time when children of rich families come out with joys after finishing their day studies by schooling and none notices the yawning gap between the two.

The labour department conducts raids just to achieve the given target and then what happens to the like Suneeta and Raj Kumari  Seema after that, the department is not concerned with.

These labours do not have any roof.  They do not get any support from any non government organizations.  Life for them is hard but they do not complain of harsh realities of daily life. They appear to be as satisfied as a moneyed person.  They do not leave others to think of their wreathed condition. So this labour Day has no meaning to life.

Not only this, ninety three percent of the one -lakh-strong unorganized workers in Aligarh work as bonded labourers.  And 85 percent of them cannot avail weekly offs without pay cults, while 0.5 percent workers succeeded in drawing additional wages for additional works. These are the findings in study conducted by Bonded Labour Liberation Organization, an NGO from Delhi.

 Aligarh administration including Labour Department is apathic to the blatant violation by Private Employers of the Supreme Court Verdict regarding mandatory weekly, closure of all shops and factories thus depriving the workers a weekly rest day.

 According to Labaour Act, weekly closure is compulsory for everyone whether concerned under the Shop and Commercial Establishment Act or Factory Act.  These Acts stipulate that the employers are bound to give four days rest without any pay deduction in a month to their employees.

  Besides this, not a single migrants workers from other states like Bihar, Bengal and Orissa has received benefits entitled under the Inter-State migrant Workman’s Act 1979.  It is learnt that out of 2 lakh unorganized workers, 36 percent are migrant workers from Bihar, Bengal and Orissa.

The main markets of Aligarh like Railway Road, Mahavirganj, Centre Point, Ramghat Road and Sudamapuri are scheduled to be closed on Tuesday.  Similarly markets in Muslim areas like Amir Nishan, Dodhpur and Upper Kot should remain closed on Friday.  But these markets operate throughout the week due to the negligent attitude of the labour department.  The employees are also forced to slog for long hours in the shops and factories, stretching beyond the statutory 10 AM to 8 PM.

Not only this, these labours are also deprived of minimum wages and SC/ST workers are the worst off.  Study says that 96 percent of labourers have no knowledge of minimum wages, holidays act.  SC and ST workers are the worst sufferers. 96 per cent of SC and ST workers do not receive their minimum wages.