On a Friday morning, with the mercury soaring to 42 degrees Celsius, Balu, 35, seated on a bench under an awning of a tea stall with a newspaper in hand, is fidgety. His furrowed brow and slumped shoulders show his anxiety. He, like most other labourers gathered at Benz Circle in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, await a work call from their contractors. It is 10.30 a.m., and Balu’s hope for a day’s labour and wages to support his family in Madhura Nagar in the city, are dwindling. Yet, he stays put at the centre, the busiest place in the city, where the two main National Highways — NH-65 and NH-16 — intersect.
There are around 30 such labour ‘addas’ (hubs) in Vijayawada, where daily wage earners flock from nearby and distant areas in the early hours, in the hope of securing work. Benz Circle, where around 700 labourers converge every day, is the biggest adda in the city. Their collective aspiration is not to return home empty-handed. However, some of these labourers inevitably find themselves without work. They linger until noon, taking shelter near shops, on the roadside, or under the flyover, while some patiently stay on their feet.
Their work, which varies daily, primarily revolves around construction and related industries. From loading and unloading to tinkering, wall painting, water tank cleaning, drainage, and road construction, their responsibilities span a spectrum. In the past five years, however, the going has been tough, they say. Most of them have often had to go without work, and hence wages, for up to a week at a stretch.
