Voices of Migrant Workers in Delhi

I, along with my classmates from the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, recently visited Narela, a sub-city in the Northern reaches of Delhi to survey the mood of the nation prior to the 2024 General Elections. We entered a mall in Narela around noon to engage with its residents and gain insight into their views on the political structure of the country, their faith in the voting system, and other political considerations ahead of the 2024 General Elections. Our visit premised on the agenda to conduct a survey carefully curated by us and our supervisors to extract varying perspectives of the citizens of India.

On entering the Mall, we saw that most of the shops were closed. Despite the circumstances, we approached the individuals hanging around in the mall or sitting inside their shops. Fortunately, people were quite friendly, welcoming, and willing to talk. They expressed comfort in participating in the survey even if they were in a rush and late for work. Almost everyone stayed for the entire duration of the interview. There was an underconfidence noted among workers about undertaking the survey. Once approached they would say, "I am a worker, what will I answer." The workers were also hesitant to survey in the absence of their bosses. A few respondents also came across as apprehensive about taking the survey and enquired about our intention behind conducting it. Interestingly, one respondent kept reinstating the fact that he was not affiliated with any political party. He refrained from answering most of the political questions as well. Thus, we noticed that for some people identity disclosure was a matter of concern as they projected fear and uncertainty about the consequences of their answers.

Overall, the respondents gave very objective answers initially but as they grew comfortable with the questioning, they shared their views on the goverment and democracy quite objectively. Most respondents displayed displeasure with the media, democracy, or the government through their tone, if not words. Toward the end of the survey, the respondents showed curiosity about our team's background and asked about our university affiliations as well. It was compelling to see how a security guard serving his guard duties stood out in excitement throughout the interview. In his opinion, his voting power was his sole power in the country because otherwise, he felt helpless. He also displayed umbrage over the government's inability to deliver necessities to individuals like him. In another instance, a group of twelve migrant workers collectively informed us that they felt like the social welfare policies, like those on water and electricity, were a sham. They voiced that who and what they are today is by their hard work and not the government's support. The question on free and fair media set them out in laughter and they said everything shown by the media is exaggerated. Along the same lines, another respondent said that media only advances the agenda and perspectives of the people in power.

In the context of the political system of the country, several respondents showcased indifference. When asked if they preferred democracy over other types of governments, some said that it did not matter to them because their life was not improving either way. A common consensus was seen on the acceptability of authoritarianism if it could improve the living standards. This kind of insight is quite alarming as India move on to celebrate the ‘Amrit Kal’ of it long fought and got Right to Self-determination. A similar level of acceptability was seen in an interview with a high-earning individual who expressed that if it could resolve social issues like heinous crimes and rape cases, India could adopt it. An interviewee's strong political bent also did not render him to care much about democracy or the government. Furthermore, the understanding of a few respondents about the democratic process of the country appeared limited, and they exhibited minimal awareness of its mechanisms and principles. They got riddled when asked what democracy is according to them and a maximum number of such people did not have voter ID cards.

As we ventured into the streets, we came across several illiterate street vendors. A candid interview with a street vendor revealed the consequences of the deep-rooted caste-based discrimination in our society on the generational progress of families. A street vendor conveyed that despite his hardships, he had ensured his children's education. He elaborated on the challenges his children faced in acquiring employment, attributing their struggles to both their caste and physical appearance, which he believed resulted in their systematic exclusion from job opportunities. Further, he expressed his wish for a quota system in political parties so that people like him could be represented.

Even though the demography of people we encountered was diverse in their income backgrounds and castes etc., most groups only found men to interview. Overall, only three females were interviewed. A notion that stood out after the day’s experience was how few people had regressive views against Reservation for the SC/ST/OBCs and did not even consider Muslims a minority citing that they are 22-23 Crores in number. They also believed that leaving alone the question of whether minority rights are protected or not, the minority groups have extra benefits in the constitution. In one of the surveys, a shop owner volunteered to join his worker's interview and the conversation followed a discourse of the shopkeeper seconding the answers of the shop owner. The shop owner spoke about his sentiments on caste and reservation. According to him, caste system should be abolished and opportunities should be purely based on merit and skill, indicating his opposition to reservation. We also witnessed how impressionable people were in changing their answers if a third party was observing them or intervening in the interview to give their opinions.

One notable observation was the presence of people originally from Bihar in Narela. It highlighted the diverse migration pattern in India wherein people leave their hometowns and travel to other cities and states for better work opportunities and living standards. Several of them pressed throughout the interview on how less developed Bihar is against Delhi. After every question, they spoke about ways in which Delhi is better equipped than Bihar in education, healthcare, infrastructure, etc. Comparisons were drawn between Bihar and Haryana as well.

In conclusion, the visit to Narela is one to remember. From one person believing that 'government schools are hollow buildings' to another one believing that education has seen the most progress in the past 10 years, people had such distinct views. The assorted responses from people thus gave us a glimpse into how the government machinery, their practices and policies, and the political structure affect people from different walks of life in different ways. On our way back from the field trip, we could not help but reflect on the stories we heard firsthand from people who struggled because of their caste and class and thus, had lost hope in the soul of the country, the government, citing their impassivity towards it. Being the largest democracy in the country, and a flagbearer of the principle, it was unfortunate to hear people's consideration of authoritarianism as an alternative to improve the country and its conditions. While some people were content with how India has progressed over the years, most of the people believed there was a scope for improvement in every aspect we touched upon.