●A reading of March 2020 to May 2021period from a residential area of factory workers.
# Sleep.
Sleep at night.
Wake-up at ease.
Naps during the day.
# Eat when you want.
Cook of your choice.
Eat at your pace.
# Talk with neighbours.
Talk in the morning.
Talk at night.
Talk at length.
Talk at ease.
# Make phone calls at ease.
Re-establish relations.
Build new relations.
Engaging in desirable online
conversations.
Randomly surf the internet.
# No blaming the self.
No blaming the
neighbourhood.
No guilt at not working.
No self-flagellation.
These were visible, in the period following the first lockdown decreed in India by the Central Government from 22nd March 2020, in Autopin Jhuggis (shanty town) in Faridabad, where most of the residents are factory workers.
## In the vast Noida-Greater Noida industrial complex in U.P. state; in Okhla Industrial Area in Delhi; in industrial areas in Alwar district in Rajasthan state; in factories in Gurgaon, Sonepat, Palwal, and Faridabad districts in Haryana state :
Eighty-five to ninety-five percent of factory workers are temporary workers. Twelve hour shifts are the norm. Morning shifts in factories from 6am, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8am. No weekly off day is quite prevalent. During “season” in garment factories, it is common to work from 9am to 1am-5am and then continue work from 9am. Half an hour for lunch is the norm. “Hirings” and “firings” are a common thing in factories.
(To be continued.)
— 10 May 2021, Majdoor Samachar/Kamunist Kranti