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Walking down he s ee in he u ban illage
o Kilok i o Delhi mos days o he yea , gi es
me a wonde ul sense o he seasons. The a ea
is ull o s ee endo s o di e en kinds. Ca s
loaded wi h seasonal oods, bo h cooked and
uncooked. Vendo s walking a ound wi h ian-
gula bamboo s ands wi h mo e ood. Cycle
endo s who call ou wi h hei cha ac e is ic
calls and o e o sha pen kni es and scisso s,
o sell all kinds o cleaning equipmen like
b ooms e c. The lu e selle who lea es beau i-
ul melodies loa ing e o lessly behind him,
as he walks by. And endo s who si by he side
o he s ee wi h hei wa es on li le plas ic
squa es. The e a e endo s who a e he e e e y
day wi h di e en a icles o sale, depending
on he ime o he yea . And hen he e a e ho-
se who a e om a away a eas, and isi occa-
INVISIBLE PEOPLE AND ARCHITECTURES OF
DELHI: STORIES OF A SHIFTING WORKFORCE
Mee a Mas ani
Tex ile a is , Bindaas Unlimi ed
h ps://dx.doi.o g/10.12795/as agalo.2020.i27.08
sionally. All hese mic o en ep eneu s c ea e
he s uc u es o hei mobile s o es and hei
li es hemsel es, and ca y hem a ound, se -
ing up and disman ling hei s o es e e y day.
Wi h a eco ded his o y om he 12 h
cen u y onwa ds, Delhi is one o he oldes in-
habi ed ci ies wi h a popula ion o 20 million
people. A ci y wi h a popula ion explosion o
47% be ween 1991-2001 and o 21% be ween
2001-2011.1
Su ounded by o he g owing owns
like Noida, Gu gaon, Fa idabad and Ghazia-
bad, all o which along wi h Delhi o m he
Na ional Capi al Region [NCR], i s popula ion
1 See Census o India 2011, which can be checked online a
h ps://censusindia.go .in/2011-p o - esul s/da a_ iles/
delhi/3_PDFC-Pape -1- ables_60_81.pd , accessed on Oc-
obe 30 h 2020.
ASTRAGALO, 27 (2020)
A ibu ion-NonComme cial-Sha eAlike - CC BY-NC-SA
ARTICLES, ISSN 2469-0503
INVISIBLE PEOPLE AND ARCHITECTURES OF DELHI: STORIES OF A SHIFTING WORKFORCE
- 106 -
Mee a Mas ani
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densi y is almos double han hose o Tokyo o
New Yo k ci y, and c ime a e is less han hal
o New Yo k Ci y.2
Wi h amilies ha can ace hei li-
neage in he ci y o well o e a hund ed yea s,
i is a ci y wi h s abili y and g ow h. I is also
an in isibly shi ing ci y. Much o i s wo king
class popula ion comes om ou side he ci y
and nonchalan ly hops in and ou o he ci y
on c owded buses, ains, jeeps, ucks and in-
o mal ide sha es on he highways leading ou
o he ci y. Visible, se led Delhi o en does no
no ice o acknowledge his s uc u e o Delhi
ha p o ides many o i s essen ial se ices.
As he la ges comme cial cen e in
No h India, Delhi’s GDP es ima es we e $96
billion in 2017-2018.3 The easonably p iced
se ices and p oduc s made in he ci y a e in a
la ge pa due o hese mig an wo ke s. Mos
o  hem ea n less han he minimum wo king
wage decla ed by he Delhi Go e nmen , which
is USD 202.00 pe mon h o semi-skilled la-
bou .4 In 2001, Delhi ecei ed 1.7 million ne
2 These s a is ics we e compiled in p epa a ion o he
13 h U ban Age con e ence by LSE Ci ies, a esea ch cen e
a he London School o Economics and Poli ical Science,
and Deu sche Bank’s Al ed He hausen Socie y, held in
Delhi on 14-15 h No embe 2014. See he edi o ial in Min ,
published 14 h No embe 2014, h ps://www.li emin .
com/Poli ics/Z 73mwOmPPbVmlNloecuBP/Delhi-mo e-
densely-popula ed- han-New-Yo k-Tokyo-s udy.h ml,
accessed online on 30 h Oc obe 2020.
3 See Highligh s o Economic Su ey o Delhi 2017-
2018, made a ailable online by he Delhi go e nmen a
h p://web.delhi.go .in/wps/wcm/connec /ebac160044d-
712c 8532873726e205c9/HighEng.pd ?MOD=AJPERES&
lmod=1042919677&CACHEID=ebac160044d712c 85328
73726e205c9, accessed on Oc obe 20 h 2020.
4 See he da a ega ding cu en minimun wage a e pub-
lished online by he Labou Commissione , Go e nmen o
NCT o Delhi, a h ps://labou .delhi.go .in/con en /cu -
en -minimum-wage- a e, accessed on Oc obe 20 h 2020.
mig an s [accoun ing o in low and ou low o
mig an s] which was 16.4% o i s o al popula-
ion a he ime.5
Mobile ege able and ood endo s, ai-
lo s, plumbe s, masons, cons uc ion wo ke s,
cycle ickshaw d i e s, newspape endo s, do-
mes ic wo ke s, ga dene s, ga bage collec o s,
ecycle s, ca cleane s, deli e y people, small
en ep eneu s and idesha e d i e s a e some
o he people who con ibu e o his shi ing
a chi ec u e o he ci y. Excep o domes ic
wo ke s, i is a e y gende ed wo ld, cons i u ed
mos ly by men.
People who come om places nea he
ci y, go back home as equen ly as once a
week. O he s come and go e e y ha es sea-
son o wo k on hei amily land. O he s s ill
come and go abou 4-5 imes a yea . The e a e
people who ha e been li ing in he ci y o yea s
and whose amilies a e he e wi h hem. They
go back o communi y weddings, go e nmen
bene i schemes and o o e in elec ions. Many
people li e and wo k in Delhi only pa o each
yea and go back o hei illages o a m hei
lands du ing he es o he yea .
Like hei p esence in he ci y, hei
homes a e also somewha empo a y and shi -
ing. Mos o hem li e in one o he many
u ban illages o he ci y, o in ‘unau ho ised
colonies’, in which a la ge pe cen age o he po-
pula ion o he ci y li es. These coloniess a by
people aking o e iny pieces o land and ma-
king empo a y shel e s o hemsel es. They
expand and con ac by g easing he palms o
5 See he a icle on mig a ion made a ailable online by he
O ice o he Regis a Gene al and Census Commissione ,
Minis y o Home A ai s, Go e nmen o India: h ps://
censusindia.go .in/Ad_Campaign/d op_in_a icles/08-
Mig a ion.pd , accessed on Oc obe 30 h 2020.
INVISIBLE PEOPLE AND ARCHITECTURES OF DELHI: STORIES OF A SHIFTING WORKFORCE
- 108 -
he police and o he o icials in he a ea. I ’s a
cons an ba le o p o ec hese homes, which
s a ou as empo a y s uc u es wi h plas-
ic shee s as oo s and g adually become iny
conc e e s uc u es. Yamuna Push a is an a ea
which had hund eds o housands o people li-
ing by he banks o ou o go en once migh y
i e , he Yamuna. These people ook o e land
by he side o he i e and a med, o jus li ed
he e. They would mo e o highe g ounds wi h
en s when he i e looded du ing he mons-
oons and mo ed back down o he i e when
i came back o i s ea lie le el. Abou 4,00,000
people om he e we e eloca ed o he bo de s
o he ci y by he go e nmen be ween 2004
and 2009 (Menon-Sen and Bhan 2008)
Cons uc ion wo ke s o en make basic
bamboo ame s uc u es wi h plas ic shee s
as co e s. O use he b icks which a e on si e
o cons uc ion and pile hem in o empo a y
s uc u es on he si e i sel . Once he cons uc-
ion nea s he end, hey disman le hei own
homesand use he b icks o making he hou-
ses hey a e cons uc ing as a eam.
The e we e abou 3,00,000 s ee en-
do s in Delhi in 2011, all wi hou egis a-
ion (Bhowmik and Saha 2012: 38). We had
abou 6,00,000 ickshaws employing a million
people in 2013. Only 99,000 o hem we e o i-
cially licensed.6
In 2010 abou 7% o he Indian wo k o -
ce was o ganized. 93% belonged o he uno ga-
nized sec o and accoun ed o 50% o India’s
GDP (Sal e 2013). The si ua ion has no chan-
ged d ama ically since hen. Mos o his sec-
o , includingsel -employed indi idual wo ke s
and small en e p ises, s uggle o wo k wi h
li le o no S a e suppo o bene i s.
In sec o a e sec o , he s o y is he
same. We ha e li le o no o mal egis a ions
by he ci y, and no social secu i y ne o he
people in all hese sec o s. They p o ide inex-
pensi e se ices and e e yone including he
S a e p e ends as i hey don’ exis . They a e
a he me cy o he police, and hei employe s
wi h no mechanism o ed essal. Since he e is
6 See he in o p o ided In e cul u al Resou ces and Human
Resou ces De elopmen Founda ion (PT 2013).
Mee a Mas ani
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INVISIBLE PEOPLE AND ARCHITECTURES OF DELHI: STORIES OF A SHIFTING WORKFORCE
- 110 -
no egis a ion, hey o en ha e o pay b ibes o
o icials who pa ol he s ee s. Wi h e y small
ea nings, and no o mal acknowledgemen o
hei exis ence, hey li e ulne able li es ha
a e pe pe ually on he edge.
Documen ed below a e he ou lines o
he li es o some o hese in isible people, ba-
sed on in e iews wi h hem.
ASHRAFI LAL
Asha i Lal Ji li es in nea he Ag a Fi oza-
bad bo de abou 235 km om Delhi. He has
wo ked in Delhi o abou 25 yea s and came
he e a he age o 19. He is a ailo who wo -
ked o o he s ea lie , and now uns his own
wo kshop wi h se en o eigh ailo s whe e he
wo ks agains con ac ed o de s. He goes home
e e y o he weekend o mee his 5 child en
and wi e. He would like o b ing his child en
o Delhi, bu he is unable o a o d he en o
any so o oom in he ci y. He and mos o his
wo ke s s ay in his en ed ailo ing wo kshop
o which he pays 125 USD a mon h. In a oom
o 315 squa e ee , wi h hei sewing machines,
a oom o keep he ab ic hey a e sewing and
o he equipmen , he e is no much space o
hem o sleep.
His uni is in Tuglaqabad ex ension a ea,
which is an unau ho ized neighbo hood. He is
o una e enough o ha e a oile which is e-
se ed o his en ed space, unlike many o he s
who li e and wo k he e. They cook inside he
wo kshop in a small oom ha is also hei o i-
ce. His sma phone helps him ge many o his
o de s and sa es him se e al ips o his cus o-
me s, as he can send hem pho os o his wo k.
His wo kshop is nea Okhla Indus ial a ea,
which is one o he ew o icial indus ial a eas
in he ci y, and whe e a lo o his cus ome s a e
si ua ed. Ge ing back o wo k a e he lock-
down has been e y ha d o him and o de s a e
less han 50% o wha hey we e ea lie .
Li ing in his wo kshop helps him sa e
on some ime and e o o commu e. He a-
els in he ci y using buses, he me o and his
us ed old cycle.
Mee a Mas ani
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INVISIBLE PEOPLE AND ARCHITECTURES OF DELHI: STORIES OF A SHIFTING WORKFORCE
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He likes being in he illage wi h his
amily, bu has no sou ce o income he e. He
has also been a social wo ke in he illage,
helping people ile “Fi s In o ma ion Repo s’
wi h he police. I is no easy o ile such do-
cumen s, specially o unde p i ileged people,
as once iled, he police a e legally obliged o
ollow up on his epo . Gi en ha he s ands
his g ound socially and does no back o , he
has been in se ious ouble. In his ega d, pa
o his being in Delhi is also o his own sa e y.
Coming om a Scheduled cas e, he is expec-
ed o know his place, and being poli ical and
eis y as he is does no help. The anonymi y o
he ci y helps people educe he impo ance o
hei cas e, e en i i can’ be comple ely e a-
sed. He enjoys he anonymi y o Delhi and he
cama ade ie wi h his co-wo ke s. The bigges
p oblem o unning his own en e p ise, as wi h
mos Indian en e p ises o e e y size, is ha
his cus ome s may no pay him. Wi h an o e -
bu dened judicia y, he e is no way o ensu e
ed essal o small legal p oblems like his.
NOOR MOHAMMAD
Noo Mohammad Ji’s illage is in Dis ic Cha-
p a in Biha which is abou a housand kilome-
es om Delhi. I is elling ha despi e li ing
in Delhi since 1999, he s ill e e s o his illage
as home. He goes back home a leas wice a
yea . I he is unwell, he goes back addi iona-
lly o ea men . He d i es a cycle ickshaw
in which he anspo s ma e ials and inished
p oduc s, be ween p oduc ion uni s and ac o-
ies in Okhla indus ial a ea.
A e wo king in Delhi o a ew yea s,
he b ough his amily he e, bu had o ake
hem back o he illage since hey could no
a o d o li e he e. The en s and ood p ices
we e oo high o hem. Ano he e y impo -
an ac o was he ac ha hey a e Muslims
and he el insecu e lea ing hem a home in
Delhi du ing he day while he wen o wo k.
O e he yea s, a acks agains Muslims, spe-
cially unde p i ileged Muslims, ha e inc eased
Mee a Mas ani
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