Daily wage earners down to their last penny as Sindh goes into lockdown

As govt adopts emergency policies to flatten the pandemic curve, workers fear devastating financial crisis

KARACHI: As the Sindh government moved ahead with imposing a lockdown on the entire province, small business owners and daily wagers complained the COVID-19 restrictions already in place had left them without a penny to their name.

The provincial government had shut down most markets across Sindh on March 17 to minimise the scale of the contagious virus’s spread. But as the number of confirmed cases ballooned over 333 in the province and over 700 countrywide, the Sindh government decided to press ahead with stricter measures.

According to Muhammad Amin, who operates a pickup van in Karachi’s Steel Market and makes a living dropping goods across the city, the market closure has severely affected his income.

“Markets have barely opened in the past week, which means those like me who earn on a day-to-day basis have not been able to make enough money to take home. I don’t know how we’ll manage when everything shuts down,” he lamented.

A motorcycle mechanic in Karachi. PHOTO: EXPRESS

Nowhere to go

Ahmedullah, who runs an auto rickshaw, too was compelled to roam around for several hours looking for passengers in downtown Karachi on the second day of the partial lockdown.

“The malls are shut and so are parks, bazaars and restaurants. People have nowhere to go, which means we have nowhere to take them,” the driver said. “In a city like Karachi, we usually make most of our money after sundown. People usually don’t bargain at night and we get what we want. But with business fizzling out, we have no choice but to agree to whatever they offer. In complete lockdown, we won’t even have that.”

Lyari resident Muhammad Bux complained rations at his home are already down to the last few grains. “I have been selling snacks outside the CMS School on Nishtar Road for the past 10 years, but schools have been shut since early February and are expected to remain shut till June. In better days, I would make up to Rs600 a day but the closure has put a cork on my business and working anywhere else has not been fruitful.”

Labourers. PHOTO: EXPRESS

Empty streets, diminishing businesses

With the once buzzing downtown streets and city centres which used to offer great business becoming eerily unpeopled, several transporters, painters, vendors, mechanics, labourers and goods carriers who would camp on the footpaths waiting work have no choice but to remorsefully leave for home.

“No one’s coming out of their homes anymore and business is diminishing by the day,” said painter Maula Bux. “My friends have already left for their hometowns. After two days of waiting for work in vain, I wanted to board the next bus out too but all inter-city buses are suspended and I don’t have the money for other transport.”

“I used to earn between Rs700 and Rs1,000 a day. But these coronavirus restrictions have robbed me of my customers,” recounted motorcycle mechanic Naeem.

“Until a few weeks ago, customers would come to us and wait for turns but now, it is us four mechanics chasing after the same bike. There really is no work left,” he lamented.

“We have appealed to the civil administration, welfare agencies and the Sindh government to contact mechanics in markets and provide rations and relief money after registering them, or they will have no means left to sustain themselves,” he added.

Government aid and relief efforts

Daily wage labourers camped outside paint shops located a stone’s throw from Nazimabad Chowrangi complained most hardware, paint and construction equipment stores have closed down across the city leaving them with no material to work with, even if there were any chances of work coming up.

“There are talks about relief efforts by the government and welfare organisations, but we are not beggars and it is against our integrity and self-respect to queue up and hold our hands out for crumbs,” said Imran, a labourer.

Other labourers in the vicinity shared that the government’s actions have been limited to lip service. “We have nothing to cook at home. Certain NGOs and philanthropists are distributing relief goods and cash at labour bases but they are often hogged by professional beggars and panhandlers, which keeps the service from reaching those who truly depend on it,” said one of them.

“Then there is the police who charge at us with their batons whenever there is a crowd or commission around the relief goods being distributed. We urge the government to make effective arrangements to assist labourers in crisis,” Imran appealed.

Although certain civil society activists realise the plight of daily wagers in the times of lockdown, they at the same time support the government’s preventive measures to contain the pandemic from spreading.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Prof Dr Tauseef Ahmed said this is a complex situation and everything is being done to keep the situation from worsening.

“A lot of people are affected by the pandemic and how it has changed the way of life but the measures being taken by Sindh government are in line international practices being used to flatten the curve,” he stated. “In these difficult times, it is our national responsibility to come forward and join hands with the government to support all those affected.”

Speaking in the same vein, human rights activist and writer Akhtar Baloch also praised the provincial government’s announcement about the provision of rations to the affected population but said the process should be transparent to avoid misappropriation.

“The government should conduct union council-wise surveys on a war-footing basis to gauge the number of people most affected by the crisis. Then, the government should take the civil society on board and also include political parties like the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in the process which would help address the situation in time,” Baloch asserted.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 23^rd, 2020.