As India’s economy grew, the hum of factories turned the sleepy, dusty village of Manesar into a booming industrial hub, cranking out everything from cars and sinks to smartphones and tablets. But jobs have run scarce over the years, prompting more and more workers to line up along the road for work, desperate to earn money.
Every day, Sugna, a young woman in her early twenties who goes by her first name, comes with her husband and two children to the city's labor chowk - a bazaar at the junction of four roads where hundreds of workers gather daily at daybreak to plead for work. It's been days since she or her husband got work and she has only five rupees (six cents) in hand.
