Winters are gradually receding. Once again, the time-honoured tradition of consuming overnight-soaked almonds took centre stage in Indian breakfast rituals, believed to enhance memory along with many other health benefits. California in the United States accounts for roughly 90% of India’s overall almond imports. And, Foreign Agricultural Services of US Department of Agriculture has forecasted that India will import 1,70,000 metric tonnes of almonds in 2023-24 MY (market year).
But, as these glossy-packaged almonds make their way from the orchards to our tables, they traverse a path lined with the toil and sweat of countless workers. Can those workers ever afford to feed their children the almonds they process? — is a prominent question echoing the narrow lanes of Karawal Nagar where, since March 1, more than 5,000 workers, a majority of them women, have been protesting for an increase in their wages.
There are more than 50 godowns in Karawal Nagar which are basically huller/sheller facilities where the outer coverings of almonds are removed. The almonds are then passed through rollers and sifters to remove the fuzzy outer hull, inner shell and any debris from the orchard, such as sticks and rocks. They are also sorted depending on their sizes and then packed to be sold into the market. The livelihoods of around 100 families depend on these godowns. The nuts arrive from the orchards of California to the big businessmen operating from the Khari Baoli region of Delhi. These businessmen give contracts to the godown owners in Karawal Nagar to get their almonds shelled, hulled, cleaned, sorted and packed. And these godown owners, in turn, hire the workers— men, primarily, for operating the shelling/hulling and packaging machines, and women for cleaning and sorting work.
These godowns are located in the residential area of Karawal Nagar, which is different from the demarcated industrial area. None of the godowns here are licensed or legally operating. The basements of the big bungalows of the owners are used as godowns. Yogesh, the Coordinator of Karawal Nagar Mazdoor Union (KMU) told The Wire, “If you walk through these lanes, you cannot identify that a godown is operational here. They do not operate in the industrial areas because, however less, there are still chances of the labour department conducting inspections in those areas. Also, no worker in the industrial area will work for such lower wages.”
Almost all the almond workers in the area have migrated from Bihar and belong to the ‘Bind’ caste, categorised as Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state. Those employed in the operating machines — mostly men — are paid Rs 5 for every kilogram they process while those involved in manual work — usually women — are paid Rs 2 for every kilogram. After interviewing the workers, we found out that, even on the luckiest days, they earn Rs 300, as opposed to the minimum wage of 673 per day for an unskilled worker, as per Delhi’s labour laws. The average earning of these almond workers swings around Rs 200/day and on some days, they make as low as Rs 50. There are no weekly offs and their working hours easily stretch up to 14-15 hours/day.
Almond workers of Delhi’s Karawal Nagar stage protest for better wages and working conditions. Photo: Meer Faisal
Vishal, another Coordinator from KMU, elaborates, “There are many many workers here who have been living in the same small and dingy room for the past two decades now while the godown owners have built multiple bungalows, have prospered from one godown to many, from one factory to many others. They have extended their businesses to the new Tronica City located nearby.”
“How will we bring up our children? Don’t they deserve a bowl full of rice?”
Gayatri Devi*, a worker in her 50s, who migrated from Muzaffarpur district in Bihar around 2 decades back, told us, “Around 20 years back, when almonds were broken by hand, we used to make Rs 20 for breaking and sorting one katta (big urn of around 21-20 kg) of almonds. After relentless protesting, we got it increased to 40 and then 60 rupees per katta. Later on, when machines came, the breaking of almonds began to be done on the machines for which male workers were hired. The sorting and cleaning is still done manually and women are involved in this work. We protested in 2012 under the banner of Karawal Nagar Mazdoor Union and got the wage increased from Re 1 to Rs 2/kg. The owners also promised that every year one rupee will be increased in our wages. But it never happened. Our wages have been stagnant for the past 12 years despite the rising prices of everything around us — flour, rice, pulses, vegetables, oil, and gas.”
Kusum Singh*, another worker who has been working in the godowns since 2003, told us, “We are demanding that the wages of workers involved in sorting be increased to Rs 12/kg and the wages of workers involved in machine work be increased to Rs 10/kg.” Yogesh added, “We are also demanding that the owners ensure that all the workers get their salaries within the first 5 days of every month. And, their work hours should be pre-decided and fixed at not more than 8 hours/day.”
Gayatri explains, “There are 7 members in my house. We are somehow managing to send our children to a government school and both, my husband and I, have been toiling day and night to make our ends meet. Two rupees per kg is not enough to sustain us. Our demands are very genuine. We are just asking for our rights — the due payment of our labour.” She asks, “How will we bring up our children? Don’t they deserve a bowl full of rice?”
When we asked Anita Devi*, who has been working in almond godowns for 15 years now, about how she manages at such low wages, she sadly smiles, “Some days we eat 2 rotis. On most days, we survive on just one.”
Sunil Kumar*, a worker in his late 30s, operates the machines which are used to break the almond shells. All the five members of his family work in these godowns. He told us, “Sometimes, the owner calls us at 12 at night, sometimes, at 4 in the morning.There are times when we sat down to eat and we were called so, we had to skip meals and rush to the godown. If we delay even once, the owner threatens to fire us. There are times when we have spent 2-3 consecutive days working in the godown.” He adds, “Since we began the protest, the owner has held our last month’s wages. When we go ask for it, he says — Come back to work. You will be paid last month’s wages, only if you come back to work.”
Ram Kumar* is a 20-year-old man whose family migrated from Nalanda, Bihar when he was child. He points out, “I began working in these godowns at the age of 10. The wages have been the same ever since I joined. But the room rent? They have increased from 150-200 rupees to 2000-2500 rupees per month. Every month, I earn only 6-7 thousand.”
On March 1, these workers held a rally, presenting a collective demand to the owners — increase in wages. Following a lack of response to their appeal, they initiated the protest. Subsequently, on March 3rd, they submitted a formal memorandum to the Prime Minister’s office, delineating their grievances and seeking intervention. Communications were also dispatched to key authorities within the Delhi government, including the Chief Minister, the Labour Minister and the Labour Court, requesting for attention to their concerns.
All the workers in the area have stopped going to work, as a result all the godowns have been shut for the past 10 days now. Losing the wages for these days, is affecting the already impoverished workers despite of which they are determined in their resolve to continue the strike.
“Every 1-2 years, a worker dies of serious health issues like respiratory problems”
Sunil’s words shed light on the dismal working conditions of these workers, “As we shell the almonds, huge amounts of sawdust comes out of the machines. The working conditions are such that the owner cannot even bear to stand near those machines. Not even for a minute.” Yogesh highlights, “Because of the sawdust, every 1-2 years, a worker dies of serious health issues like respiratory problems. The sawdust and scobs of the shells enter their system. A few years back a 30-35 year old man fell seriously ill. We thought it was a cough or TB, but later the doctors found out there was sawdust inside his body. He died due to lack of proper treatment.”
Safolite, which is the sodium salt of hydroxymethanesulphinic acid, is used to bleach the almonds and make them look fresh. Safolite is commonly used in industries as discharge agent in textile printing, as redox catalyst in polymerisation process for manufacturing polymer/synthetic rubber. According to the ‘Material Safety Data Sheet’ printed by the Silox India — the primary manufacturer of this chemical—, Safolite “causes skin irritation, serious eye irritation, may cause respiratory irritation, and is suspected of causing genetic defect and damaging the unborn child (If exposed).” Under the ‘Precautionary statements (Prevention)’, the company documents mentions, “Do not handle until all safety precautions have been read and understood, Avoid breathing dust / fume / mist / vapours / spray, Use only outdoors or in a well-ventilated area, Wear protective gloves/protective clothing/eye protection/face protection.”
Sunil laments, “If I operate the machine today, my spit and cough will remain infected with the chemical for around a week. The owner lives and eats in peace. And our lifespan is decreasing because of inhaling that hazardous chemical. Despite knowing that, we continue to work because we are helpless. We don’t have any other option. If any of us gets a proper medical check-up, tens of diseases and ailments will be diagnosed…such hazardous are our working conditions.”
Gayatri continues, “Earlier, the owners made us use acid to soften the almond shells. As a result, our hands were always bruised and sometimes, even bled. These days there is constant itching and other skin diseases in our hands because of the chemicals used in various processes.”
“All of these godowns are illegal and operating from residential areas”
Yogesh, while revealing the names of some owners — Rakesh Mishra, Pramod, Vasudev Mishra, Manoj, Shankar, Charan Singh, Sunil, Bablu, Sandeep, Kailash, Sachin, Indraj, Uttam singh, Parmod, Vishnu and Pappu — told us, “Many of them enjoy support from local BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht and Nigam Parshad Satyapal Singh. In fact, one of the godown owners — Vasudev Mishra — even stood for Nigam Parshad elections and enjoyed the support of Bisht. But, later, instead of him, Satyapal was made the Parshad.”
He adds, “Since all of these godowns are illegal and operating from residential areas, the owners give huge funds to the MLA and regularly bribe the local policemen to be able to operate these illegal godowns. In some of the godowns, even children as small as 6-8-year-olds are working as labourers. There have been occasional complaints against this. In such cases, the owners hide the children.”
“The labourers of Karawal Nagar are Zindabad… Won’t let someone steal our labour”
Vishal explains the attempts to halt the protest, “First the local police tried to stop our protests. But we told them that this is a labour dispute and we are carrying out peaceful rallies and not breaking any laws. After the police’s attempt went futile, the godown owners took the lumpen hooligans in the area to a theka and gave them liquor. After the boys became drunk, they were supplied with batons and sticks to go into the area and beat workers. It was an attempt to aggravate workers to retaliate and then the police would arrest them and the protest would break.”
“The owner threatens us — You will die on the road starving and will not get any more work. They are trying to aggravate us against the activists who have been helping us.” tells Anita. To this, Gayatri adds, “The mill owners are not interested in any dialogue with us. They don’t allow any communication, instead, are threatening us that they would shift the godown to someplace else where they would get labourers for a cheaper rate — perhaps at 1 rupee or 1 rupee 50 paise. We dare them to do that. The labourers of Karawal Nagar are Zindabad. We will work anywhere else to earn our daily bread but won’t let someone steal our labour.”
The owners are pasting posters all over the area saying that the wages given to almond workers in Delhi are higher than other states. Rakesh, another activist from KMU, told us “It is a lie which we have busted. We have found out from the activists in other states. In Mumbai, Jaipur and many other cities the wages are higher.”
Yogesh narrated, “Last night, some owners were forcing a few women workers to work. When the other women found out, they went to the godown and protested. The owners had already brought in hooligans which then manhandled the women, slapped and beat many of them. When this happened, the SHO of the area called me and accused me of the violence against the women. When my lawyer talked to him and asserted that I was not even present on the spot, the SHO backed down. The injured women, later, called 112 to lodge a complaint. On the morning of March 10, the women and the activists went to the DCP, North East Delhi; ACP, Khajuri Khas Police Station and SHO, Karawal Nagar Police Station to lodge a complaint.”
The complaint mentions that the godown owners Charan Singh, Sunil, Bablu and Sandeep, along with the drunk hooligans attacked the women with lathis and sticks, “tore women’s clothes, pulled their hair, made casteist remarks, abused and molested them.” It is undersigned by almond workers — Chandra Kumari (16), Shanti Devi (37), Urmila Devi (35), Nishu (18), Rinku Devi (36) and Rinku Sinha (32).”
About the violence and threats of the owners, Sunil comments, “They are threatening us only to break our spirit, our protest and force us to go back to work. They say — Either come to work or go back to Bihar.” He questions, “We are working at the cost of our lives. And even in return for our lives, we are not getting minimum wage. How is that fair?”
*The names of all the workers have been changed to protect their identities.
