India’s workers quit city life over impact of Iran war on gas prices

{"text":[[{"start":11.35,"text":"Even before the US and Israel launched the war with Iran, Kunta Devi and her son earned barely enough to survive from their work in the factories outside New Delhi. When the price of cooking gas quadrupled almost overnight, their income of Rs20,000 ($211) a month no longer paid the bills.  "}],[{"start":31.25,"text":"So, Devi did the same as thousands of other Indian factory workers: she abandoned her job in an industrial area and made the long journey back to her home village, where free accommodation and government food handouts compensate for a lack of work."}],[{"start":45.15,"text":"“Our lives won’t be back on track until the war ends because of the rise in the price of cooking gas,” said her son Raja Babu, 24, who along with his mother had left their lodgings on the outskirts of the capital. "}],[{"start":58.45,"text":"India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has in recent days appealed to Indians to tighten their belts as the world’s third-largest oil importer tries to halt escalating economic disruption from higher energy prices. "}],[{"start":71.25,"text":"Industrial production figures have yet to be published for April, when the full force of the crisis hit, and no reliable figures exist on how many workers have been forced to return home. "}],[{"start":81.4,"text":"But Shreya Ghosh, a labour rights activist from the Centre for Struggling Trade Unions, an umbrella group, estimated the number of departing workers was “in the hundreds of thousands”. "}],[{"start":92.2,"text":"“The LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] price rise made life unbearable,” she said. “No one can survive on wages even close to [the monthly minimum of] 11,000 rupees.”"}],[{"start":104.2,"text":"Noida, an industrial hub on the outskirts of New Delhi, is already witnessing an exodus as well as worker protests. "}],[{"start":111.35000000000001,"text":"“When the price of gas went up, workers could not afford to live here any more and so many people left,” said Suraj Yadav, who was selling snacks and tea from a stall next to the offices of a call centre operator hit by the protests. "}],[{"start":124.80000000000001,"text":"Gesturing towards the smashed mirror glass windows, he added: “All this has happened because of low wages.”"}],[{"start":130.95000000000002,"text":"The state government of Uttar Pradesh responded to the protests by increasing the minimum wage by up to 21 per cent, angering the business community. "}],[{"start":140.60000000000002,"text":"“A steep rise in minimum wages will render operating costs unsustainable for industries across sectors,” said the Confederation of Indian Industry in a written statement to the state government, which is led by Modi’s party. “This may prompt companies to consider relocating or expanding operations in other cost-competitive states.” "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":160.90000000000003,"text":"Vikram, who manages a clothing factory in Noida and did not want to give his full name, said his plant was working at just 30 per cent of capacity because of the worker exodus. "}],[{"start":171.20000000000005,"text":"After the wage rise, “Noida is no longer competitive”, he said. “We cannot make money, so we will need to move to [neighbouring] Madhya Pradesh where costs are lower.”"}],[{"start":182.60000000000005,"text":"Rising wages are one of several cost increases that factory owners have to swallow. Raw material and fuel costs have jumped sharply after the Iran conflict began, a blow to manufacturers battling cut-throat competition from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh."}],[{"start":197.35000000000005,"text":"“Ninety per cent of the businesses here exist on a margin of 10 per cent or less,” said Vinod Sharma, a member of the Uttar Pradesh branch of the Confederation of Indian Industry. "}],[{"start":207.75000000000006,"text":"“The reality is that China sets the price for our products and they have overcapacity, state subsidies and they provide dormitories for workers at their factories. We have none of this.”"}],[{"start":219.40000000000006,"text":"For some economists, the crisis exemplifies the pressure on India’s millions of migrant workers, saying the “Make in India” push to turn the country into a manufacturing powerhouse and supply chain rival to China risks condemning many people to poverty."}],[{"start":234.65000000000006,"text":"“You can’t have a developed economy where workers are not earning enough to live,” said Himanshu, a professor specialising in labour economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, who does not use a last name. “Workers’ wages have not kept pace with prices and since 2011-12, there has been a steady decline.”"}],[{"start":253.85000000000005,"text":"At New Delhi’s vast railway station, the crowds of people queueing for trains include many migrant workers. “The gas price rises have really hit hard,” said Vijender, a railway porter. Gesturing to the crowds of passengers, he added: “All these people are going home.” "}],[{"start":270.95000000000005,"text":"Down a fetid alley in a Noida slum, 17-year-old Saniya Qureshi said her father had joined the exodus of workers, returning to the family’s village of Unnao after he heard that the government planned to allocate free housing there."}],[{"start":285.40000000000003,"text":"Her family was already struggling to get by. In Noida, six of her family members stay in a single small room with a concrete floor, sleeping on thin rubber mats at night and sharing an outdoor toilet and a communal water tap with other residents. "}],[{"start":299.90000000000003,"text":"The room costs the family Rs4,000 a month, while Qureshi’s mother earns Rs11,000 working 12-hour shifts packing clothes in a nearby factory. "}],[{"start":310.00000000000006,"text":"Since the war, they can no longer afford to cook with gas and use wood instead. “Everything is so expensive,” Qureshi said. “How does one live and eat?” "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":327.30000000000007,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778569508_3195.mp3"}