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It hurts me every single time to see a middle aged man struggling to peddle the rickshaw while I, a young 20 year old someone, sit comfortably behind and let him serve me. It hurts me when my locality's carpenter sits shabbily under the tubelight in peak summer, with no fan, and works with wood & nails and... an empty stomach. It hurts me when my maid, a wise young lady, nearly touches my feet while cleaning my floor, while it should be the other way round.
Millenials in India are typically those spending lavishly on food, clothes, travel but still remaining poor in terms of social beliefs & philosophies. This is my personal take, ofcourse. But what is not personal is the gigantic impact a minute habit of bargaining has on overall unorganized sector.
The men & women working away from their homes, for a fixed pay with barely any incentives other than absolutely 'minimal' survival (where minimal refers to deficient and not a global trend of sophistication), is it really humane to give them the kind of facilities, behaviors & attitudes that we give?
A mind-map for the diverse factors associated with unorganized sector:
Reflection on this issue for merely 40-50 minutes could make me realize: the effect of minute acts & words have an overall gigantic affect on the condition of unorganized sector. The umbrella causes of discontent in this sector turned out to be Legal Framework of the nation, Survival Needs, Social Set-Up Notions, Health Welfare (or the deficiency of it), Economic Framework & Rural Development Schemes.
While legal policies allow employers' to exploit unorganized sector workers, social set-up add to their misery by giving people an 'assumed authority/ superiority' to shout/ misbehave, sometimes even act violently against these poor souls working hard for their survival. Health, both physical & mental, is affected by extremely long working hours, unrewarding pay, lack of incentives and poor perception of people around.
What next? As a novice in this domain, I could come up with a few ideas that might be able to uplift or enhance the existing system into something more desirable/ comfortable for the human race:
Rural Startups (Co-Survival) : Filthy rich of our country and even abroad, have money to splurge on implementable ideas and eligible entrepreneurs. Millenials keen towards entrepreneurship can choose rural welfare topics. Given their credibility, investors will happily invest into the venture. This will help money flow from gold & diamond lockers to brick & clay kachche ghar!
Special Forces Card : Government can launch a special card for unorganized sector workers. This card will give them an identity where they'll feel proud of their existence. This can eventually be used to channelize the sector in terms of providing benefits, ensuring healthy work conditions, and tracking & tracing the entire industry.
Mandatory Local Trade : Government can make it legal to trade day to day commodities only within local regions. E.g. Milk, butter, ghee etc. to be procured from a nearby rural dairy only. Textiles to be sewn in adjoining rural factories only. This will create employment in rural sectors, and enable unorganized sector workers to be able to stay in their hometown while earning a necessary income for survival.
Ed-Tech in Rural India : Low education is one major factor why unorganized sector workers accept to work under the conditions provided. They do not have any other option! Not opting for education is either due to lack of educational infrastructure in their villages, or a feeling of inadequacy, or most commonly, a pressure from family to earn for survival. Gamified e-learning, adaptive learning, e-skilling can be some solutions which can educate such people. This education will either help them to bargain for smarter incentives in their current job or switch to better opportunities.
Please Note:
The rickshaw walas don't always have such a smile as shown in the video,
because our negotiations are not accompanied by pleasant greeting & a video camera!
It hurts me every single time to see a middle aged man struggling to peddle the rickshaw while I, a young 20 year old someone, sit comfortably behind and let him serve me. It hurts me when my locality's carpenter sits shabbily under the tubelight in peak summer, with no fan, and works with wood & nails and... an empty stomach. It hurts me when my maid, a wise young lady, nearly touches my feet while cleaning my floor, while it should be the other way round.
Millenials in India are typically those spending lavishly on food, clothes, travel but still remaining poor in terms of social beliefs & philosophies. This is my personal take, ofcourse. But what is not personal is the gigantic impact a minute habit of bargaining has on overall unorganized sector.
The men & women working away from their homes, for a fixed pay with barely any incentives other than absolutely 'minimal' survival (where minimal refers to deficient and not a global trend of sophistication), is it really humane to give them the kind of facilities, behaviors & attitudes that we give?
A mind-map for the diverse factors associated with unorganized sector:
Reflection on this issue for merely 40-50 minutes could make me realize: the effect of minute acts & words have an overall gigantic affect on the condition of unorganized sector. The umbrella causes of discontent in this sector turned out to be Legal Framework of the nation, Survival Needs, Social Set-Up Notions, Health Welfare (or the deficiency of it), Economic Framework & Rural Development Schemes.
While legal policies allow employers' to exploit unorganized sector workers, social set-up add to their misery by giving people an 'assumed authority/ superiority' to shout/ misbehave, sometimes even act violently against these poor souls working hard for their survival. Health, both physical & mental, is affected by extremely long working hours, unrewarding pay, lack of incentives and poor perception of people around.
What next? As a novice in this domain, I could come up with a few ideas that might be able to uplift or enhance the existing system into something more desirable/ comfortable for the human race:
Rural Startups (Co-Survival) : Filthy rich of our country and even abroad, have money to splurge on implementable ideas and eligible entrepreneurs. Millenials keen towards entrepreneurship can choose rural welfare topics. Given their credibility, investors will happily invest into the venture. This will help money flow from gold & diamond lockers to brick & clay kachche ghar!
Special Forces Card : Government can launch a special card for unorganized sector workers. This card will give them an identity where they'll feel proud of their existence. This can eventually be used to channelize the sector in terms of providing benefits, ensuring healthy work conditions, and tracking & tracing the entire industry.
Mandatory Local Trade : Government can make it legal to trade day to day commodities only within local regions. E.g. Milk, butter, ghee etc. to be procured from a nearby rural dairy only. Textiles to be sewn in adjoining rural factories only. This will create employment in rural sectors, and enable unorganized sector workers to be able to stay in their hometown while earning a necessary income for survival.
Ed-Tech in Rural India : Low education is one major factor why unorganized sector workers accept to work under the conditions provided. They do not have any other option! Not opting for education is either due to lack of educational infrastructure in their villages, or a feeling of inadequacy, or most commonly, a pressure from family to earn for survival. Gamified e-learning, adaptive learning, e-skilling can be some solutions which can educate such people. This education will either help them to bargain for smarter incentives in their current job or switch to better opportunities.
It personally hurts me to see a young boy working for 12 hours a day, with muddy legs, hair, injured hands and an empty stomach. To add to this, he's given cold shoulder by most of the society 'species' and harsh words by temporary employers. Without such personnel, much of the society would be left in a fix! High time we started thinking about it and taking actions to improve the condition. Hope to convince atleast some of the readers to not bargain with the rickshaw drivers next time :)
