Read and discuss the following description of the living conditions of workers who come to the labor chowk.
Most workers that we find at the labor chowk cannot afford permanent accommodation and so sleep on pavements near the chowk, or they pay Rs. 6 a night for a bed at a nearby night shelter run by the Municipal Corporation. To compensate for the lack of security, local tea and cigarette shops function as banks, moneylenders and safety lockers, all rolled into one. Most workers leave their tools at these shops for the night for safekeeping, and pass on any extra money to them. The shopkeepers keep the money safely and also offer loans to laborers in need.
At labor chowks, daily wage workers wait with their tools for people to come and take them for work. The labor have usually migrated from the rural areas in search of employment and since they are so poor they cannot afford to have permanent shelters in the urban areas. Therefore, they are forced to live on streets and pavements and keep their tools at nearby shops. They are not given basic health facilities and face difficulties every day. They work on their own. They are not employed by anyone and therefore, have to organize their own work. Often people who make a living in the city are forced to set up their homes on streets or stay in night shelters by paying money every time they go in there.