A large number of daily wage earners are bearing the brunt of decline in the development and commercial activities, finding it hard to make their both ends meet in the city of sufists Multan. These workers generally earn their livelihood by working in godowns, fruit and vegetable markets, under construction houses and development projects.
But it is very difficult for them to find job for their livelihood. They start arriving in the markets and other identified spots early in the morning to make a successful hunt for clients seeking services for their domestic and commercial work.
Though numbers of them succeed in their planned efforts yet many of them fail to get any work and finally return home with empty hands. 'There was a time when dozens of clients daily arrived at this spot to pick up labourers for their under construction houses and other domestic work,' said Allah Divaya, a labourer sitting on the pavement at MDA Chowk. "The situation is quite unusual now-a-days as number of clients have declined significantly and sometimes we wait for hours and no one comes here."
Some of the labourers said they had visited under construction houses, but for their utter disappointment their owners told them that they have stopped work for some time.
Khalid Qureshi, a wholesale dealer, said he needed four to six labourers for unloading material from trucks but the number of labourers have risen to the extent that dozens of them daily visited his godown for work. Various female labourers are also observed daily on the pavement in search of jobs and they are witnessed to offer their services even for construction.
"I have worked for two years as a labourer with my brother in Multan. We have been consistently searching for a better work after arriving in this city, but it seems difficult for us to get any immediate success in this respect."
The arrival of thousands of people displaced from the restive tribal areas has further intensified the situation because they also need some kind of source of income in the city, which is already understressed due to shortage of work opportunities.
These migrated people, unfortunately, also lack proper accommodation and likely to face extreme weather conditions in the coming weeks if they are not resettled in their respective areas.
The stoppage of construction work on various projects in Islamabad has also become a matter of grave concern for the labourers who have no alternative source of income. Most of them live in slums with their families where they lack almost all basic amenities of life.
A contractor Mian Farooq Ahmed said when the government delayed providing necessary funds the construction was stopped for some period and it generally happened every where.
"The labourers are paid on daily basis and if there is no work then we don't hire their services. We always try to continue our work but sometimes it becomes difficult for us due to lack of required funds," he said. The construction work in recently established red zone in the capital city has also reduced and the labourers engaged in some of the projects are now searching for work in other areas.
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