As the Indian economy officially heads into a recession and news of layoffs and unemployment reaches us with increasing frequency, we at Gram Vaani turned to workers to hear their side of the story. Industrial sector workers, largely engaged in the automotive and garments factories in the Gurgaon-Manesar belt, spoke to us about the turn that their lives have taken due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Most of them—being migrant workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh—were forced to return to their homes during the lockdown under distressing circumstances. Having remained out of work for several months, they ultimately had no choice but to come back.

Of the 372 migrant workers we surveyed during October-November 2020, through our voice-based community media platform Saajha Manch, 60 percent reported that they were out of work. Of the remaining, 65 percent reported that they were getting only erratic work, for hardly three to four days in a week. Companies have no new orders, our volunteers told us, and are shutting down one branch after the next.

Due to this work crunch in both the automotive and the garments sectors, there is pressure on workers to do as the company says, else forsake their jobs. More than 50 percent workers reported that their workload has increased tremendously. Working hours have increased as well, but most workers in the automotive sector are only paid for overtime at the regular wage rate. Conditions in the garments sector are worse, where 37 percent of workers reported that they worked longer hours, but were only paid for their regular eight hours. “If you don’t like it then you can leave, is what the employers tell us,” they reported.

Read the full article about labor rights in India by Aaditeshwar Seth at India Development Review.