Why Bengal’s local trains are lifeline even for educated unemployed

Despite his family’s financial setbacks, Jha had completed a diploma in civil engineering and got a job in the rainwater harvesting department of a company in Haryana in 2018. He had worked hard to earn the reputation of being an exception in his neighborhood, and he took pride in it. To which his father talked about him. He was not there to sell tea in trains. But the pandemic trucks a blow. The company that hired him closed shop in 2021. their steady salary 22,000 closed. He returns home in despair and rising credit card bills. Months of unemployment followed. “When I lost my job, I also had a home loan to repay. my credit card bill ran out 51,000 I thought I would have enough money once the company clears my dues. But I had not imagined that we would not be paid the full amount promised.”

That first day as a hawker, on February 18 this year, his mother assured him that his troubles would not last forever. He took to the stage again – this time with an extra batch of lemon tea. “I realized it was in demand among travelers.” Before noon, he had earned 600.

Jha is among thousands who were pushed into the informal sector during the pandemic after losing their jobs and social security. During the second wave of the pandemic, at least 10 million people lost their jobs, according to the Center for Monitoring of the Indian Economy (CMIE). Data shows that West Bengal saw an unemployment rate of 17.4% in April and May 2020, when the state and the rest of India were under strict lockdown, as compared to 4.9% and 6.9% in February and March respectively. In May and June 2021, during the second wave of the pandemic, the unemployment rate in the state stood at 19.3% and 22.1%, respectively. While the state’s latest unemployment rate, as per CMIE data for September, 2022, is the lowest at 3.3%, this figure hides the economic crisis on the ground.

“The overall economy in West Bengal has been stable, especially in terms of job creation. From 2007–2008 there was some industrial development, mainly in small and micro enterprises. That too has come down in the last decade. Large corporate investment has been limited, and there has been industrial stagnation. The lack of a growth engine means that the overall employment situation is dire,” said economist Jayati Ghosh, a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts.

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“When I was making tea that morning, I had so many questions for myself. Should I get into Hawking at all? And if I do, how? When I was doing my engineering, I was the only one studying from the slum. But I also realized that there is no use in sitting idle. My mother told me that people do strange things and I can quit Hawking once the call comes for an interview.”

At present, there are between 65,000 to 70,000 rail hawkers in West Bengal, according to Subhash Mukherjee, president of the Center of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), West Bengal. Mukherjee said, “There is an urgent need to legalize hawkers in the railway sector. Since the pandemic, many people who had given up selling goods in trains have gone back to hawking due to lack of employment opportunities. Siddhabrata Das, president of the Jatiyo Bangla Sammelan, a union fighting for the rights of informal workers, said that now the number of people inquiring about taking hawking in trains has increased – some of them including educated people like Jha.

However, the work itself is prohibited by law. The prospect of being fined and arrested by Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel haunts Jha every time he boards the train. His father, who was a railway hawker since the age of 12, was forced to leave the business in 2004 after repeated crackdowns by the RPF. “There were 22 cases against him. He has struggled a lot in his life.” Jha has already been fined.

Ravi Srivastava, director of the Center for Employment Studies, Human Development Institute, Delhi, said that the government’s policy of not authorizing railway vendors is outlawed. “Railway hawking is becoming dangerous day by day, where the rights of hawkers are being pushed into the background. While some form of licensing is good for public safety, small-scale hawkers need to be licensed. The lack of rights of hawkers suggests that there is a pattern of systemic attack on the informal sector. Srivastava said. With the licensing of on-delivery services such as the delivery of food and beverages on long-distance trains, small-scale hawkers have been pushed. edge.

ticket of livelihood

As soon as the Sealdah-Hasnabad local train, which covers a distance of about 75 km in two hours, reaches the bustling Dum Dum Cantonment station, hawkers in the ladies’ compartments are thronged. Travelers check out the earrings being sold, discuss what they have bought for the festive season and seek reassurance from the hawkers that ghugni – a popular Bengali snack of yellow peas – is hot enough.

As the train reaches near Bybla, three stations away from its destination, more than 30 hawkers have already started selling apples, children’s books, artificial jewellery, hair clips, bags and traditional sweets. The smell of Ghughni is replaced by freshly brewed milk tea. Somnath, who is known by his name to daily commuters, distributes biscuits, followed by tea, to his customers. He almost admonishes one of them not to rush to pay him. “You’ll spill hot tea and hurt yourself.”

Srivastava pointed out that West Bengal has a history of a significant number of people relying on hawking in local trains to earn their livelihood. “Many of us who have traveled on trains for decades have also enjoyed the variety of goods brought by hawkers.”

Das of the Jatiya Bangla Sammelan, describing the informal rules created among hawkers, said that about 90% of the people hawking trains have been around for a long time. “They respect each other’s domain—which one will take when it comes to selling goods on trains.”

While Jha is a new entrant in the informal sector, a large number of hawkers who have been around for decades still grapple with the impact of the lockdown and suspension of local trains. Interviews conducted by Mint with over a dozen hawkers at stations, protest rallies and over phone showed how they have faced a steep drop in income while facing harassment from the RPF for being ‘unauthorised’.

Fifty-six year old Pushpa Malik is in business for the last 20 years. Diagnosed with cancer around the lockdown in 2020 and local trains not running for some time, she was out of work for over a year. While her husband’s health did not allow her to work, she found it difficult to rely on her two sons financially, who worked as laborers and had barely any income since the lockdown.

Dheeraj Sengupta of the civil rights group Association for the Protection of Democratic Rights said that while local trains have been suspended for long periods during the years 2020 and 2021, small-scale hawkers are still reeling from the major economic shock during that period. are battling.

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“The condition of railway hawkers will be very bad as these hawkers dominate the local trains and not the long distance trains. People traveling in these trains now have less income and less purchasing power. It directly affects how much hawkers can sell and earn,” Ghosh said.

A comparative study conducted by the non-profit ActionAid on workers’ incomes in 23 states and five union territories amid the lockdown during 2020 showed that despite workers returning to work, widespread unemployment persists, More people were in debt during the unlock phase.

The gender impact of the crisis also cannot be ignored. The United Nations had observed that the pandemic would push more women into poverty globally. The United Nations said that by 2030 there will be 121 poor women per 100 men. The Inequality Virus Report by nonprofit Oxfam noted that even before the pandemic, more women were concentrated in the informal sector. Earlier this year, Malik again started selling goods on the train. But soon, he realized that his health was weak and business was weak.

“From sarees, I turned to selling bags. profit was 20 on a saree, and I managed to earn between 200 more 250 a day. But no one will buy saris in trains after the lockdown. So I thought the bag would be a better option. but the profit is per bag 10, and the daily income is as low as 100,” Mallick said.

life on the margins

It is 1 pm in the College Square area of ​​Kolkata as hawkers prepare to agitate against their illegal situation. Most hawkers agree that business is not as usual. When the chorus for their right to live a dignified life is suddenly interrupted by rain, they take refuge at book stalls on both sides of College Street’s Nodal Road. Many of them have brought fine slips with them. from 600 1,400, assigned to them by the RPF to testify in the face of daily harassment.

Samit Malakar, 40, a Calcutta University graduate who has been selling chips and peanut candies for the past 10 years, said it was a fight for his rights. “For a few years, I tutored, worked in NGOs and other small scale jobs. I started hawking because I was left with no other option. But I was fined and harassed several times by the RPF.”

CITU’s Mukherjee said the hawkers are demanding their right to live honestly. “From the beginning, the demands have been the same – demand for licenses for hawkers, no resettlement without rehabilitation, and social security measures for them.”

Sixty-five-year-old Rabindranath Dutta is somewhat baffled that he has never been fined in the last three decades for selling lozenges on trains. “I have brought many of my relatives into this trade – my son, brother and nephew, among others. They have all been fined, but not me.” The hawkers are unanimous on the way forward – a sustained agitation is needed for the government to focus on their struggles.

Meanwhile, Jha has a message for diplomats – don’t be distracted by temporary setbacks. He doesn’t want his story to be disappointing to other candidates.

He now has two job offers – a Haryana-based company that was shut down during the pandemic and is now planning to reopen, has paid him the same salary he was earning, and another firm in Odisha. has offered salary 32,000 Her parents are eager to take her either. Eventually, he studied and worked hard for years to get there. But Jha says that self-employment has its advantages. He sells water in trains these days. But whatever he decides, he will have to wait at least a month for now. “Over the years, I have missed Durga Puja and Chhath Puja. If I go, it will be after celebrating both these festivals. I want to spend some time with my daughter.”