Pratishtha Pandya

Author

P. Sainath

Editor

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<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“Ye barah lakhwala na? Isi ki baat kar rahe hai na? ” Shahid Hussain, 30, holds up a WhatsApp message on his phone right in front of me. It’s about the income tax exemption being raised to Rs. 12 lakh. Shahid is a crane operator with the Nagarjuna Construction Company working on a metro line in Bengaluru.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“We’re hearing a lot about this 12-lakh tax-free budget,” scoffs Brijesh Yadav at the same site. “No one here earns more than 3.5 lakh [rupees] annually.”&nbsp; In his 20s, Brijesh is an unskilled migrant labourer from Dumaria village in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria district.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“While this work lasts, we’ll make some 30,000 rupees a month,” says Shahid from Biur in Bihar’s Kaimur (Bhabua) district. He’s been to many states in search of work. “After this job, either the company sends us elsewhere, or we look for other work that will pay 10-15 rupees more.”

<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">At the traffic junction across the road, another migrant from UP is selling window shields, car neck supports, microfiber dusters and more. He paces up and down the road, nine hours daily, knocking on the windows of cars waiting at the junction. “ Arre ka budget bole? Ka news [Oh, what budget should I talk about? What news]?” Nafeez is visibly annoyed by my questions.<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">He and his brother, the only earners in their family of seven, are from Bharatganj in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj district, 1,700 kilometres away. “What we make depends on our work. Aaj hua to hua, nahi hua to nahi hua. [If I earn today, I earn; if I don’t, I don’t]. I make about 300 rupees when I do. On weekends it can touch 600.”<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);box-sizing:border-box;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);font-family:&quot;Fira Sans&quot;, &quot;Open Sans&quot;, sans-serif;font-size:17px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:29px;margin:0px 0px 20px;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;">“We’ve no land in the village. If we operate someone’s farms as tenants, it’s a ’50:50 system’.” That is, they bear half of all costs – water, seeds and more. “The work is all ours – still we surrender half the crop. We cannot manage. What to say about the budget?” Nafeez is impatient. The light turns red again and he’s sighting more potential customers in their insulated cars waiting for the signal to turn to green.

One migrant morning in Bengaluru

બેંગલુરુમાં સ્થળાંતરિત શ્રમિકોની સવાર

बंगळुरूतल्या स्थलांतरितांची रोजचीच सकाळ

بنگلورو میں ایک مہاجر کے صبح و شام

பெங்களூருவின் புலம்பெயர் தொழிலாளர் காலை ஒன்று

ബംഗളൂരുവിലെ ഒരു കുടിയേറ്റ പ്രഭാതം

बेंगलुरु के एगो परदेसिया भोर

‘हमर खुदेच के परबंध नइ. बजट ला लेके काय कहिबो?’

বেংগালুৰত প্ৰব্ৰজিতৰ এটা পুৱা 

బెంగళూరులో వలసజీవుల ఒక  ఉదయం

ਬਜਟ ਦਾ ਕੀ ਕਹਿਣਾ, ਮਜ਼ਦੂਰ ਦੇ ਮਜ਼ਦੂਰ ਹੀ ਰਹਿਣਾ

ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲೊಂದು ವಲಸೆಯ ಬೆಳಗು

बजट का रोना और बेंगलुरु में यूपी-बिहार का मज़दूर होना 

ବେଙ୍ଗାଲୁରୁରେ ପ୍ରବାସୀଙ୍କ ଗୋଟିଏ ସକାଳ

বেঙ্গালুরু শহরে এক পরিযায়ী সকালে…

 Bengaluru

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One migrant morning in Bengaluru

They’re from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, working as semi-skilled and unskilled labourers and street vendors in Karnataka. None of them was ever within the tax bracket, old or new, as announced in the Union Budget 2025

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