Today, many in the world will be celebrating Labour Day by recognising those who build their nations and the reforms that many labour advocates have promoted regarding balanced work hours and fair pay. There will be no such joy in the hills of North-West India. Here, Nepali migrants are involved in the back breaking work of manual road construction, often with no assurance of pay.
Suresh*, 14, from Mid-West Nepal, should be continuing his education but instead he, and many neighbours from his village have travelled to a town in North-West India in search of work. Rather than hitting the books, Suresh is working alongside grown men hitting rocks as they labour side-by-side constructing roads. There are no unions or labour advocacy groups here. Just a group of Nepali migrants far from home doing their best to earn enough to live on, provide for their families’ needs and if possible save towards their further education.
“I don’t like it here much. Sometimes we do not get work. I even fall sick. I could have studied in Nepal but then there is always a need in the family. I thought I could help my father and mother if I earn here in India,” says Suresh.
While many on the roadside are men, there is an alarming number of teenagers, boys who ought to be at school and living in the care of their family; one of them, Madan*, had just finished his Senior exams before travelling to India. “I thought I would work and earn for my future studies. I will go back to Nepal soon,” Madan explained.
Work was slow on the day we met Suresh and Madan, they, and the other Nepali migrants with them, were waiting on the road side for a contractor to employ them at a good wage.
The work available to them is often difficult, dangerous and risky. For the most part their plight is a story that remains untold as there is no media coverage and no investigation of the condition of its citizens in the hills of North India by the government of Nepal.
INF’s India Migrant Initiative [IMI] has been partnering with Nepali churches in North-West India to bring holistic transformation to Nepali migrants, helping to bring an end to their hardships and seeking to provide support networks for migrants, empowering them to make good choices regarding migration. The majority of Nepali migrants crossing the border are disadvantaged and uneducated with little knowledge of the potential perils that await them. INF disseminates information about safe migration and health related issues such as HIV and AIDS. INF also seeks to support the education of children of migrant parents through the provision of tuition classes.
PRAY |GIVE | GO | SHARE – Please pray for INF’s work with Nepali migrants, for the IMI staff as they support vulnerable Nepali migrants through community health and development.
*Suresh and Madan’s name have been changed to protect their anonimity.