10.30.08
On the Maharashtra Situation – Part II
The second part of a three-part series on the Maharashtra situation. It contains more rhetoric, generally disagreeable formatting and a few rubbish images. Great Success!! (roll mouse over links) If you cant be arsed to read the whole of this post, just scroll to the bottom.
(i know this doesn’t look anything like Maharashtra or Bihar. But what the hell.)
Situation I – “Migration” of Goods
Assume – Maharashtra (Mah) employs tens of thousands of people in the pot-making-industry. These people and their families depend on this local pot-sale to earn their livelihood. (Clay pots obviously, not the one used for *cough* * cough* medicinal purposes) Mah needs lots of clay pots, which it buys from Maharashtrian pot-makers, made out of locally available clay.
Assume – Bihar needs very few clay pots. One day in Bihar, somebody discovers huge, cheap, easily-harvestable raw clay deposits. Labour is also cheap. Bihar suddenly starts mass-producing cheap pots. But Bihar doesnt need so many pots. They decide to sell pots off to Mah. Bihari pots, cheap ones, start flooding the market. Mah pot workers are unable to compete, because – firstly their clay simply costs more. Second, the cost of living in Mah is higher than in Bihar. Basically, if the pot-maker needs 3000 bucks a month (just an assumption for comparison) in Mah, he would be able to live the same life at 2000 bucks in Bihar (I exaggerate. based on per capita income, I guess 1000 bucks in Bihar should be more than enough).
Bihari pots are an absolute rage simply because they are cheaper. Local pot-makers are losing jobs. No alternate source of income. Bihar creates wealth, but at what cost? At the cost of Mah’s. To prevent a situation like this, the Mah government (just taking an educated guess) levies taxes to make both pot costs comparable and then let the people decide. Fair? As ardent a supporter of Laissez-Faire as I am, this is certainly fair. This “regulation” is what is done when “goods” move from state to state. What about workers then?
(Makes me a bit queasy; putting this pic up in this context is slightly unethical. Apologies. Couldn’t find a better image.)
Situation II – “Migration” of Workers
Similar to the previous case. Mumbai based railway employees, taxi drivers, truck drivers, factory workers (small scale too), office peons etc live locally with their families. They buy food and clothing, pay for their kids schooling, etc at Mumbai-prices, which is far higher than Bihar prices. They need some “minimum income” to survive, say 3000 bucks a month. The Bihari/UP-ite can do with 2000 bucks a month. He offers to do the same job the Maharashtrian does at 2/3 the cost! Obviously companies and factories will hire this cheap labour. His family is back in Bihar/UP anyway, and if he can save even 1000 bucks and send it back, that would be a huge step up for them.
As of right now, Bihari/UP labour is plentiful – thus the supply is immense (1.2 billion of us around and all that), and the demand is only finite. The market pays just 2000 bucks for the job. The Maharashtrian will have to make do with that paltry sum (which isnt enough for him/his family), or remain jobless (which leads nowhere really) or try for a better job (unlikely with his skills) or most likely – move out of Mumbai, to eke out a living elsewhere (not a solution).
In the recent Railway exams, some figures said some 12k Biharis turned up for 3k jobs. What people fail to realize is that for every one migrant who has done something noteworthy for the city, there dozens of other migrants, from the same place as this one person, rotting in the slums. While goods are easy to regulate, is it necessary and possible to regulate this movement of labour?
To Conclude
Most people who see this situation do not understand it – this fight isn’t about those of us stuck in plush offices and well-decorated homes (so please dont bring rubbish about “corporate” jobs into the argument). It isn’t even about average people with average means (most normal desk jobs and lower rung jobs). Its about the autodrivers, factory workers and unskilled labourers. That is the keyword – UNSKILLED. Migration of people is all well and good. Problems arise when the only jobs they are capable of doing is manual labour (and a bit of driving, etc which does require “skill”, but it can be trained fairly easily. 12+3/4 years of education however, cannot. )
Next Part – The third part will raise more points for and against stopping this “migration”. Also, a bit about the perpetrators of the violence. May also discuss possible solutions. Promises to be far less boring. Will contain very bad attempts at humour. Oh, and a truly terrible analogy too. Perhaps.
“Fun” Fact – 60% of people in Mumbai live in the slums, and about 20% of people (an estimate which I remember reading somewhere) are from UP and Bihar. Which is a hell of a lot.
Further Reading : An Interview on Devil’s Advocate about the issue.
10.28.08
On the Maharashtra Situation – Part I
Violence has died down in Mumbai and it seems to have shifted to Bihar now. In order for something to be burnt by the rioting mob, it must satisfy two conditions
(image copied shamelessly from the Hindu’s website. very shamelessly.)
- It must be big. The bigger it is, more is the impact, more the footage you get on the news. Hence buses, trains and everything burnable and big are being burnt.
- It must be government property and must disrupt life. If you walk around the streets burning garbage, nobody would care. People in fact would gladly donate more of their garbage to your cause. Burn a bus, and every news channel will stop talking about the recession and give you all the airtime you need.
With so many self-help books flooding the market, I am quite sure there must be something along the lines of “7 Habits of Highly Effective Rioters” or “Chicken Soup for the Rioters Soul“. Not that these people need any help, mind. They seem to be doing a bloody good job of disrupting public life so far.
Seeing as every media outlet is obsessed with the situation, I doubt if I need to harp on about what is happening. That however, will not stop me from harping on regardless. In a nutshell -
- Raj Thackeray claims the Marathi Manoos (loosely – Marathi Peoples) are not getting enough representation, jobs, etc.
- Raj Thackeray strongly advocates an anti-northie bias. (why dont some people like the term northie? hardly offensive, is it?)
- Raj Thackeray’s lackeys use strong arm tactics on a bunch of Biharis trying to write the Railway exams.
- Tactics turn out to be a bit too strong armed and some of said Biharis kick the bucket (which is an insensitive way of saying – they died).
- Cue the justified decry of violence-based politics.
- Raj Thackeray is arrested.
- His lackeys get another excuse to go on a violent spree.
- Maharashtra burns.
- Said lackeys get arrested.
- People in Bihar, incensed that people in Mumbai get to make big bonfires out of public property, decide to get in on some of the action. After all, who doesnt like a good riot? But what about the excuse… I mean the reason? Their kith and kin are getting thrashed around a thousand miles away! That will do.
- Gather those stones, get the petrol out. We have ourselves a riot!
- Bihar burns. Simple so far?
In the whirlwind of media reports about the situation and how common mumbaikars, the impoverished lot in general and those from the north in particular (among the impoverished lot), are living in fear, certain common stereotypes are built up. The leader of this movement (which would be Raj Thackeray) becomes a mindless monster who can do no right. Your average Bihari/UP-ite living in the Mumbai shanties is an innocent migrant cowering behind tin walls and plastic roofs. All he wanted was a fair shot at making himself a life. All he got was a stab in his back and a nice whack on his head. But is the situation really that simple?
Violence as a means to an end is rarely justified in a democracy, so there is no issue to be debated there. A solution to violence based politics is simple, if somewhat unlikely to happen – ban repeated offenders from contesting elections. However, behind all this violence, there actually is a valid cause. Their demands may be a but excessive and their means may be rotten, but there is a valid cause.
“What is wrong with folk from Bihar and UP migrating to Mumbai?“, people might wonder, “it was people from such diverse places who made Mumbai what it is.” They might muse, “Besides, we are one nation. What is wrong with a little inter-state migration?“
Quite a lot actually, more so in a over-populated country like this one. This situation is not about a bunch of Maharashtrians resorting to violence because they are xenophobic. Their reasons are far more complicated. Their means may be unnecessarily violent, but they do have their own valid grievances (imo, of course). There will hopefully be a next part, where I elucidate further. Seeing as none of my previous “Part I” posts have any “Part II” posts following them, the smart money would be on this being my last post for a while. But a few months back, the smart money was on the stock markets, right? Those of us who read the papers know what happened to that 
