Parshuram Chaudhary of Baghmara, Tikapur Municipality-4, is feeling relaxed these days. He has been earning a living by driving a rickshaw in the Tikapur market for 20 years but has become restless due to lack of work. He has built a house in Tikapur by driving a rickshaw.
He used to get jobs in the past, but nowadays he returns home empty-handed when he does not get work. In the past, he used to earn Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 daily. “Our business has been overshadowed by electric rickshaws,” he said. “We are called only out of compulsion as there is no alternative.”
The workers say that it is difficult to make a living by driving a rickshaw due to lack of work. Ratiram Chaudhary of Shaktinagar Camp, Tikapur Municipality-1, says that the problem becomes worse during festivals. “We sat at the market square all day, and returned home empty-handed in the evening,” he said. “When we reach home empty-handed, it is hard to control our minds when we start looking for what our children brought.”
Chaudhary says that instead of staying at home, instead of getting work as a pushcart driver, he has to wander around looking for daily wage laborers. On the one hand, the market is deteriorating day by day. On the other hand, since passenger-carrying rickshaws have started transporting goods, pushcart workers have been in trouble. Just a few years ago, there were more than a hundred pushcart workers in Tikapur. Most of them have now been displaced. Only a few who have no alternative to pushcarts have continued.
“We don’t have land to farm, we don’t have the skills to do other work, and we don’t get regular work to do labor,” says another worker, Sitaram Chaudhary. “Expenses are increasing day by day. Instead of increasing our income, what will we eat, wear, and educate our children?”
Radheshyam Chaudhary of Joshipur used to earn up to Rs 50,000 per month by driving a cart. He has experience of earning up to Rs 5,000 per day. He has been driving a cart for 18 years and is in danger of being displaced from his profession due to electric rickshaws.
The cart workers demand that the local government create standards and create a living environment for everyone. They demand that the vehicles be used for the purpose for which they were purchased.
“The skills we have are the same, today those skills are useless, we cannot afford to buy electric rickshaws,” says Pardeshi Chaudhary, a cart worker.