Moti-ur Rehman (right), the labourer from Bengal, at a Delhi Metro construction site. (Prem Singh)

New Delhi, July 15: For 11 years, Malda’s Moti-ur Rehman has been working at Delhi Metro’s construction sites. He was there during Sunday’s bridge collapse and Monday’s crane crash, too. But for all the risk he takes, he is nobody’s child.

Rehman does not have an ID card nor is he an employee of the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC). Yet he and several others like him have slogged 17 hours a day to clear the debris, their worn-out helmets the only protection against another accident.

“I am scared every day and I hope this helmet can save me from a tragedy,” Rehman, 45, says. “But then I remember that those people who died on Sunday were also wearing helmets.”

The labourer wants to return to his home in Bengal that he left 15 years ago, but he cannot quit his job. He has seven mouths to feed and, for him, hunger is more painful than death.

Asked how much he earns, Rehman smiles wryly. “When I started 15 years ago, I used to get Rs 120 for 12 hours of work. Now I get Rs 150,” he says.

According to the law, however, he is supposed to be paid Rs 153 for eight hours and double the amount for 12 hours.

Rehman and others like him have been brought to Delhi by a contractor who gets money from the Metro corporation and pays the labourers after 45 days of work. Every Metro line spanning 5-6km has at least 2,000 workers who usually work 13-16 hours a day, seven days a week.

“If we miss even one day, our salaries are deducted. We are at the mercy of the contractor. There is no way we can raise our voices about safety on the sites. There have been instances when agitating men have been beaten up by the contractor’s goons or even sent to jail,” said Rajesh, another worker who saw the back-to-back accidents.

At least 50 labourers at the crash site have decided to quit. But many others who do not have an alternative have stuck on. “I came here five years ago, now I am stuck. I have six mouths to feed back home in Malda,” says Rahidul Sheikh.

Workers’ rights groups allege that the DMRC is not following safety procedures stipulated in the Building and Other Construction Workers Act.

“Even (Metro chief) E. Sreedharan’s dog will not stay in conditions that these workers stay in,” says A.S. Azad of Nirman Mazdoor Shakti Sanghatan. “The law says that at sites having over 500 workers, a labourers’ safety committee has to be formed comprising representatives of the principal employer, the contractor and a member of the government’s labour department. It has to meet every month and review safety provisions. Only when it gives a go-ahead can work be started. Not one site of the DMRC has a labourers’ safety committee.”

Activist Vivek Disha, who works with an NGO fighting for Metro workers’ rights, adds: “These labourers have not even been given identity cards. DMRC does not count them as its employees. But according to the law, DMRC is their principal employer and is responsible for their welfare.”

Most labourers live in the suburbs in ghetto-like structures. Around 5am, they squat in queue at a designated spot having tea and buns as they wait for their pick-up trucks to arrive. Once the trucks pull up, there is a mad scramble to hop on. Those who lose the fight lose a day’s pay.

Official removed

Delhi Metro today removed Vijay Anand, a senior official, from the project in its first punitive step after back-to-back mishaps in south Delhi.