Image by d ha rm e sh via Flickr"I came with my father when I was a small kid. He got a job in the mill." is all you will hear when you go around asking people as to when they came to the city? Even my family is also one of them. They came way back 1907 due to some business options. Families from Rajasthan, Gujarat, surrounding villages of Cawnpore came to the city in search of better economic opportunity. Peasants and workers from nearing villages came to the city due to uncertain harvest that still depends on the rains.
After the establishment of Textile Mills in the city in 1864, there has been enormous rise in the population of the city. Cawnpore was one of the largest employment generator in the state due to opportunities provided by the mills & other allied industries. This population primarily comprised of business families and working peasants, who came to the city in search of better economic avenues & to lift themselves from the circle of poverty. Getting a job in the mills was easy or there were other options like traders, wholesalers and retailers who use to employ them for work.
Closure of textile mills in the state has left a section of population nowhere to go. Now they have no choice but to return to their native place where income levels are not sufficient or try their luck in bigger cities like Mumbai and Delhi. Lack of growth in other economic sectors has also added to the problem. No new Business establishment can be expected in the near future due to lack of infrastructure in the city, which has almost wiped off if there was a chance for revival.
With the poor economic situation of the U.P and worst agriculture scenario in villages People from near by villages still come to the city in search of work though the number has dropped considerably over the years. Now they come to the city either to work in unorganized sector, or suffer from problems like job insecurity, low wage structure & denied all the other benefits which they would have enjoyed in organized sector. Due to low wage structure they are trapped in vicious circle of poverty.
Studies of Jan Breman in Ahemadabad have shown that people there move from one line of the poverty to the other line. They also suffer from working in unorganized sector where low level of social security, minimum wages levels, health and medical benefits all are not available. They form a large chunk of urban poor. City also gets affected, as due to their low income line they reside in diplitated colonies or by the side of railway tracks and slums. The number of slums and these colonies are huge in the city. Besides being unauthorized they suffer from lack of basic civic amenities like toilets, pure water and electricity. This has led to city's administration on double responsibilities of these people, in case of demolishing illegal buildings and slums.
Either they can go of to far places like Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta etc. to work, which makes it difficult for them to be in touch with their families and loved ones. Cost of living is also higher in these cities, which hampers their savings.
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