The porters of Iewduh are almost invisible, say Melari S Nongrum and Marbabiang Syiemlieh of MLCU’s Department of Social Work
IN THE busy paths of Iewduh, one could see the line of men and women selling fruits and vegetables. People from all walks of life throng their way to buy their delicacies. For many sellers in Iewduh, after a long day, they have to pack their goods in their baskets and store it for the night in the go-downs. The large baskets are usually carried by the Dai or porters.
In the market place, the buyer and the seller become the primary stakeholders in the functioning of the market. More often than not, the porters are a neglected and forgotten lot. We forget that the market starts with the work of a porter. “I’m here in the market as early as six o’clock in the morning. We carry the consignments from the go-downs or vehicles such as buses or sumo taxis that come from the villages to the shops and assigned places,” says Sien (name changed).
A walk in the early morning in Iewduh, one would find the baskets or other packed consignments all along the paths; the work done by the porters. The porters continue their work throughout the day and on an average, a porter works 10 to 12 hours a day.
Does one aspire to become a porter? The answer is a straight no. The lack of opportunities for other forms of livelihood activities has made these people take up this occupation. Many have not had any formal school education and have also not had any skill based training; this reduces their chances of getting into any skilled labour. “My mother did not send me to school when I was a kid, now that we have migrated to Shillong, what will I do except for this? She regrets that she did not send me to school,” says Ban (name changed).
Many porters live in the Greater Shillong area; they have migrated from their villages, maybe with a hope for a livelihood activity but circumstances and the lack of skills and education have left them with few options.
In Iewduh, there has not been a strict count of the number of porters. According to estimates by the Office of the Hima Mylliem, there are about 500 odd porters in the market. There is a mix of non tribals belonging to the Nepali, Bengali and Bihari communities constituting approximately 40 per cent and the tribals i.e. the Khasis constituting 60 percent. The non-tribals have come because they have their friends and relatives who are already in the business. Many of them do not have their families in Shillong and therefore they have come here to earn a living so as to be able to support their families back home. Among the local Khasi porters, some of them live in the Greater Shillong area and this occupation is their fulltime work and some porters go back to their villages on a daily basis.
There are also those individuals who work as porters only after the sowing and harvesting seasons; their work is seasonal in nature. “I come and work here only when there is no agricultural work in the village; I get additional income from here. From agriculture alone, I cannot support my family,” says Shem (name changed). He also said, “I earn about Rs 300 to four hundred a day and I spend about Rupees one hundred on transportation everyday as I go back to my village”.
One porter has been working for 25 years; he has been able to support his family; his son has become educated and has a stable job. “In the twenty five years that I have been here, there has not been much change except for wages; there is no technology that has come to ease our work,” says this senior porter.
In terms of work, the porters work in a particular area, for example the Anjali area; there would transport the goods from the area to the market and come back to their area. The porters are either attached to a shop and are called as permanent porters or they work on an individual basis are called as running porters. Sometimes, the ‘running porters’ earn more than the permanent porters but this depends a lot on the kind of shopkeepers the porters are attached to. The non tribal porters are mostly attached to shops as permanent porters. It is reported that there are youth who actually take this occupation as their part time job; they work for two to three hours in the morning to support themselves and their education. The wages for carrying a particular load depends mainly on the weight and distance. It is more or less understood by the porters, how much to charge from one point to another; it is like an informal understanding among the porters.
The entrance to a shop, the footpaths or footboard of buses is their resting place. One often sees a group of porters with their star (head strap made of bamboo) in their hand, huddle together for a smoke, gambling and chit chat. In rain or shine, they bear the harsh weather conditions. On asking about their health conditions, they simply say ‘just body-aches but in the rainy season, it becomes a little difficult’. Scientific studies have shown the effects of carrying heavy loads for a considerable long time are mainly biomechanical in nature, i.e. in areas related to the head, neck and spine. Although the rainy season is a difficult season, the porters look forward to this season as there is more work for them. They say that many vehicles come from the villages bringing fruits and vegetables and it is more profitable for them in this season.
“It is not an easy job, sometimes people don’t give what they have agreed to pay. They pay less. Sometimes they use bad language and just move away. What do we do? Most of the time, we don’t want to argue and create a scene so we just take what they give” says Shem (name change). While having a cup of tea in one of the tea stalls in the market; when a porter comes and sit in the next seat, what would be the normal reaction? Instantaneously, we would move away from the porter. As a society, our attitude towards these people is often, one of loathe as many a times, we see them as unkempt and dirty.
There has not been much effort from the government to promote the welfare of these important people. However since 2014, there has been a move from the Khasi Hills Autnomous District Council along with the Hima Mylliem to register the porters and give them uniforms. According to sources from the office of the Hima Mylliem, there have been 252 porters who have registered. Many porters have not registered or taken the uniforms. “We have not understood what the District Council or Hima Mylliem actually wants” says Kit (name changed). “The uniform is expensive, it is Rs 500,” says another porter, sitting next to Kit. Speaking with one of the officials, Myntri from the Hima Mylliem, the move to register the porters and provide uniforms is to protect the interest of the porters as the porters can accrue many benefits as an individual and as an association. With the uniform, the public are also protected as they report any act of indiscipline by a porter.
The International Social Work Day is celebrated every year on the third Tuesday of March and this year, it fell on March 17. This year’s theme was “Promoting the worth and dignity of peoples”, relates to the core value of social work as a profession and to the second pillar of the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development. At the Department of Social Work, Martin Luther Christian University, we would like to enhance the awareness about the important role that the porters play in the market place. They are the primary stakeholders in the market and therefore as a department and society, we need to acknowledge their contribution and their inherent dignity and worth.