Punjab job crisis: Note ban haunts as labour pleads for work at 1/3rd wages

Most end up agreeing to wages as low as Rs 150-Rs 200 while the official minimum wage is Rs 311.12 for an unskilled labourer and Rs 375.62 for a skilled labourer

Stress had put deep wrinkles on Balkara Singh’s forehead though he was just 32 years old. The daily wage worker, dressed in a faded blue sweater and jeans, has come to the Gol Diggi labour hub in southern Punjab’s Bathinda city every single day for the last five years to look for jobs.

Since the end of 2016, he has returned home disappointed most days. The best he could hope for were about 10 days of work in a month, he said.

Poverty drove Balkara out of school when he was in Class 2 and his only dream was to see his