This roadside mechanic perfectly sums up Pakistan’s economic conundrum

Daily-wage earners like Naeem are hit the hardest when inflation goes up

KARACHI: As inflation plagues the nation, the cost of living in Karachi has surged. Flailing economic conditions have hit low-income groups, daily wage earners in particular, the hardest. These include daily labourers, roadside mechanics and push-cart vendors, among others.

Muhammad Naeem Qureshi, a resident of Liaquatabad, is one among millions of daily wage earners who set out of their homes every morning to earn a day’s living. He is a motorcycle mechanic who sets-up a make-shift automobile workshop each day to meet his day’s expenses. Despite around three million motorcycles in Karachi, 50-year-old Naeem, along with thousands of roadside mechanics like him, has been struggling to make ends meet. The skill, which sustained his living for nearly 30 years has now begin to fail him. Speaking to The Express Tribune, Naeem tells his story.

Young apprentice

Naeem was born in the house of small-scale shopkeeper who earned just enough to support his family of 10 - eight children, their mother and himself. Soon after Naeem passed the eighth grade, he began working as an apprentice and learned the skills required of a motorcycle mechanic. Within three to four years, Naeem was skilled enough to set-up his own make-shift shop. These days, he sets shop at the footpath near Dak Khana Chowk in Liaquatabad.



Over the course of his career, he has imparted the skills of his profession to around 10 to 12 others. “A mechanic is known for his experience and expertise. It takes around three years to master the required skill set,” says Naeem. He fondly recalls his older students as the newer ones, he says, are less willing to work hard. “They don’t want to work hard for three years when their expected income per day is Rs100 to Rs200 so they prefer to quit the profession.”

As economic conditions worsen, several others have descended on footpaths to offer similar services. The number of customers availing these services, however, has decreased significantly.

A hard day’s work

There are over three million registered motorcycles in Karachi. In addition to this figure are countless unregistered motorcycles and those brought in from other cities. And yet, the number of mechanics in the city ranges between 10,000 to15,000. Only 30 to 40 per cent of them work in proper workshops. Roadside mechanics set up shop either outside stores selling spare motorcycle parts or on any busy footpath where they might find room. Some veteran roadside mechanics have fixed spots where they set up shop each morning.

According to Naeem, footpath mechanics earn their livelihood on a daily basis and accept whatever charges they can negotiate with their customers at the time.

Footpath mechanics will charge a Rs100 fee for work which would cost Rs300 at a mechanic shop. “If business is slow they will agree to do it for Rs50,” tells Naeem.

Over the years Naeem has picked up on some of the trends in his market. “Customers start paying attention to the maintenance of their motorcycles when the price of motorcycles increases. It is when the business of a motorcycle mechanic fares well.” Repair and maintenance work has also increased after rainfall and increasingly dilapidated roads, he adds. However, the number of labourers offering roadside mechanic services has also increased while at the same time, the purchasing power of the regular clientele has decreased, laments Naeem. “The number of mechanics may be increasing but the average income for each is reducing.”

Speaking of his customers, Naeem points out that most of the motorcyclists who come to footpath mechanics belong to low-income groups who prefer to purchase new parts instead of maintaining old ones, especially when prices are low. When prices are high, however, they prefer to spend as little as possible and prefer cursory repair work for which they also pay less. “The condition of some customers is so bad that we cannot ask for more money and simply settle for what is offered,” says Naeem, while recalling that when he began his work, Rs100 was enough to meet his day’s expenses. “Now, even Rs1,000 is not enough for one day.”

Rising expenses, falling income

Naeem acknowledges that his economic conditions have been difficult throughout his life. “I have been repairing motorcycles for 30 years but I could not save enough money to afford my own house.”

However, in recent years his expenses have risen - he pays Rs10,000 for rent, roughly Rs2500 to Rs3,000 for utilities and added to this are his daily expenses including food and medication. Amid this, his income seems to be falling. Naeem bemoans that never before has he had to face conditions such that making Rs500 per day has become close to impossible.

Of late, he has found a part-time job at the canteen at Karachi Press Club. It has only been three months but working there has made it easier to make ends meet, says Naeem, adding that he is trying to save enough money to be able to set-up a small spare parts shop.

As the rest of the country remains divided along with loyalties to different political parties, ethnicities, sects and religions, Naeem is quick to point out that the only way to assess the performance of a government is inflation. “We [daily-wage earners] are the first to be affected by inflation. The regime in which there is low or no inflation will be the ideal.” He insists that governments may claim progress and economic improvement but their success will only be evident when lowest income groups begin feeling the effects of this improvement.

 

This story is part of a weekly series that seeks to bring to light the unsung heroes of Karachi - the hawkers, traders, doctors, teachers, engineers, lawyers and daily-wage labourers. It is they who make Karachi the city of lights.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2019.