Let us look at society today. There are very clearly, blue collar and white collar jobs. While us white collar folks have five day weeks, desks , A/C, paid vacation, and any other perk that we fancy for ourselves, there are some labourers who are paid wages on a daily basis. And more often than not, in a country where labour is exploited, like ours, they are paid for an entire day less than what we make in half an hour.
And then there are employee benefits, retirement schemes, promotions, and so much scope for betterment still. The other side shows us jobs which are mostly handed out by flimsy contracts under cut throat contractors. These jobs are mind numbingly repetitive. They are bound to it for the rest of their lives until they
1. Are killed by an accident on the job
2. Die/Retire due to some occupational disease
3. Are phased out, fired and forsaken when they can be replaced by machines.
The ideal society is supposed to provide equal opportunity for every individual to pursue his dreams. The staggering contrast between that and reality is depressing.
This is seen first hand in a place where manual labour is found in plenty, like process plants. I used to attend classes for half a day in an A/C environment, the other half with Google Reader and Facebook and managed to make more than a thousand a day. I looked into the slip of a labourer who toils all day under the unforgiving Vizag sun and saw 154Rs/day.
So are we better than them because we are more educated? Or is it because we have the systems and the nonchalance to thoroughly exploit them?
5 comments:
I think it is the former that by default gives us the authority to do the latter (which is wrong - but that's how it is).
I'm beginning to believe that there's just too much nonsense going on. A look at our lives in cities should tell you this much. How long does it take to spend the daily wage you mentioned at any arbit mall? Ten minutes? Easy. And let's not even think about the villages. In this part of the country, the infrastructure doesn't even exist. People can very easily go without food, and medical attention seems like a once-in-a-lifetime event. I think we're all (the people reading and commenting on this blog, and others "like" us) just plain lucky, and that's all there is too it.
Its the social system (and possibly corrupt politicians) to blame. In the US, every plumber receives as much respect as every CEO of an MNC. Due to things like caste system, manual labor has been pathetically exploited, and the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer in India. Education has little to do with this. Its the latter.
I agree somehwat with Amrut - we have loads of uneducated bums making decisions of national importance. The worse-off sections of society will definitely benefit from having better access to education, but I do not think education (in the context of schooling and literacy, which seems to be the emphasis) alone will suffice to alleviate this problem on a large scale.
The problem is people is like you and me, who refuse to pay 400 bucks for a day of a cricket because it too much, hence the guys over at the stadium under pay the helper/cleaning guys.
The problem is people like the guys over at the cricket stadium who take too much money for themselves, instead of paying the helper/cleaning guys.
The problem is people like the helper/cleaning guys who just don't demand enough money.
Ofcourse the same applies to all situations.
The lesson for us? Pay extra for vegetables at the market and pray other people do their share.
Post a Comment