I recently stumbled upon a video on social media where a girl talked about how living in Canada was significantly different from what she had imagined. She pointed out, in particular, how easy life was in India; delivery executives would pick up return parcels from her doorstep, unlike in Canada. Here, she must print her own labels and drop off her return packages at the post office. The video gained much traction and sparked a renewed discussion about how Indians often live more comfortably at home, and if going abroad was even worth it.
The merits of settling in a foreign country can be debated separately. Indians first need to acknowledge their privileges, which allow them to exploit cheap labour. It’s high time we start a dialogue on the true cost of our comfort and what it means for our society.
Several social media videos show students reminiscing about their sheltered lives in India. I used to be part of such conversations and thought along the same lines until I realised that my comfort was rooted in income inequality and the exploitation of cheap labour. And this has become so normalised that most people can’t even begin to see what’s wrong.
Admire the West, learn from it too
Many of us admire how Western countries, particularly those in Europe and North America, have established systems where workers can earn enough to lead a dignified life. They have succeeded in ensuring comfort for their working-class citizens through robust social welfare systems, universal healthcare, and strong labour protections. However, we fail to understand that the creation of such a society has been possible due to inherent respect for labour. A large chunk of these countries’ population happily chooses to take responsibility for their daily work or hire housekeepers at respectable wages if they need them. You don’t have to be a doctor or engineer to be paid what you deserve.
We aspire to mimic the same society but fail to understand that it’s not possible without reducing inequality. It’s important to give up on the privileges we enjoy at a cheap cost so that every individual can live a life free of exploitation and with dignity. Disparity is nothing to boast about. It only perpetuates a system where a few individuals enjoy privileges at the expense of less fortunate others.
The lady complaining in the video doesn’t seem to understand that the people picking up her parcels are human beings. You either pay a reasonable price for their effort, or you do it yourself.
One time during a health emergency in the United Kingdom, I had to wait long to access the National Health Service – the country’s publicly funded healthcare system – at a private hospital. Private clinics in the UK are far more expensive than in India. That’s where the NHS comes in, offering world-class treatment without additional charges. However, I later learned that although it might be slightly inconvenient to use it at times, a little patience ensures that every individual receives the same standard of medical care regardless of their financial background. I’m not arguing that it’s a perfect system and couldn’t be improved, but ensuring world-class medical facilities for every individual at the cost of my small inconvenience is a far better choice for me.
Also read: Zomato workers panting on bicycles with low pay. But for company, image matters
We’re failing at reforms
While a significant section of the privileged and wealthy need to become more aware and develop sensitivity toward the less fortunate, it’s not just about being kind to people who come into your contact or offering charity. Genuine compassion transcends personal acquaintances and embraces strangers in our community. We can achieve this by creating a system that benefits everyone in society. One that ensures liveable minimum wages for everyone.
While there is no doubt that society needs to change its mindset, we have also failed miserably at enforcing crucial governance reforms. Despite 78 years of self-governance and numerous schemes and plans, execution shows there is much to be desired. We have an abundance of rules, regulations, and laws relating to various issues, including the welfare of poor Indians, but the reality of law enforcement is well-known.
Indians have hope in the Narendra Modi government since the Congress didn’t succeed in providing effective solutions. However, inconsistency in implementation is visible even now. India’s revised labour codes claim to cover people in both the organised and unorganised sectors, but the ground reality shows otherwise. It’s a situation made worse by inadequate law enforcement as well as the intricate and convoluted framework created by the fact that every state has its own labour laws.
The time has come to address these issues and create a more equal society. We can do better than boast about our privileges, which often only exist because poor people are compelled to work for low wages. This doesn’t make us superior to the West, just highlights our failure as a society.
Amana Begam Ansari is a columnist and TV news panelist. She runs a weekly YouTube show called ‘India This Week by Amana and Khalid’. She tweets @Amana_Ansari. Views are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)
What bubble do you live in? I do freelance work, so it’s basically work for hire. A skilled labour if you want to think about that way.
And in this line of work that I do, not only have I been ridiculed for pricing myself higher than expected, I have been through incessant calls in the middle of the night trying to get 2 hours of sleep because the work is not finished. Why is the work not finished? Because the client wanted to see another variant after already been given 5 variants.
If anything we really don’t know how to treat our labor force, I mean were downright abusive.
I know people who slept in the office for weeks because their boss said the work must be done. They weren’t ever paid overtime.
Get out of your bubble and see the reality.
Food for thought. But feels like other factors are missing.
She is mostly not talking about the US. The rest of the “west” is not at all similar to them. She mentioned only Canada and UK by name.
And what US companies do there, they do worse in India. Moreover, most Indian companies have very shitty work culture (only Japan have worse culture among developed nations, I think). So that comparison is also nonsensical.
You may believe in the fairy tale you conjured. But that’s your personal story. Thousands still migrate yearly, and millions have no plans to return. I have scores of friends who settled outside, and I was the only one to come back. But that was not because it is better here, it’s not. Just that the family is here.
Good. best wishes
This writer has to bea straight up paid western stooge. They respect their labor? They have built a good life for workerg lass? Is that why the “working class” is working 3 joks and still has no money to buy basic necessities? Homelessness is through the roof, medical bills are through the roof and all the benefits from their jobs are gone. USD is literally flooding their country with illegal migrants to replace the working class. I don’t know what you are shorting but please stop. you think income inequality is bad in India? The top 001% Billionaires of usA have more wealth than 50% of the world’s population combined. And itis all blood money from wars and slave labor in places like Congo. Please get a brain implant before suggesting that some delivery company ding their job to rrent labelb & picking up parcels is somehow ‘exploitation’. Not everyone can earn money spewing nonsense. Please go learn what actual work is. And then see how Amazon refuses its workers to use a bathroom or how restaurants don’t pay wages to wait staff who only make in tips. most of their jobs are being replaced by automation anyway. Plus westerners are kazr and have horrible work ethic , managerial skills, or mental capacity, which is why they need immigrants to run their country. For which they peddle bs through bs writers to perpetuate the western brand. The west is one of the worst places on the planet for labor laws, currently there are stares trying to push child labor to be back. Please stop with this idiocy, you are embarrassing yourself
And what about the population burden, can it be compared with those countries. The amount of money and resources that we have to provide to major chunk of our population in the name of welfare schemes is far more than the money spent by those countries on systems like NHS.
The article writer should not have his/her biases and should look at all the perspective that led to a situation.
The value of all goods & services are mostly based on their demand and supply. It’s a well know fact that Walmart or Amazon pays minimum wages for their workers in US, however, no one seems to complain about it. Things are changing in India as well, I now see a lot of middle or even lower income people giving tips at restaurants as well as for home deliveries.
India is a unique nation, much like brands such as Maruti or Tata, which offer cars for every class. Similarly, our labor wages vary according to the class of the person using their services. One example that comes to mind is of Kareena Kapoor’s nanny, who used to get paid around 1 lakh per month to take care of her child. In contrast, a majority of middle-class citizens in India might earn 1 lakh as a monthly salary. So, what should they be paying for similar services? The answer is that they pay according to the equilibrium of supply and demand for labor in their area.
Western countries are developed nations, but even they went through a journey from free labor (slaves) to low-wage labor, and now to minimum-wage labor. However, this transition happened over a long period of time. In any transaction, there are two parties involved: a buyer and a seller. A buyer might have all the respect for the seller and their product or service, but if the buyer’s budget is limited, they will either search for a seller who matches their budget or make an extra effort to do the tasks themselves. The majority of our population has a limited budget to offer, and we as a country have an excess supply of such service vendors.
There will always be exploitative buyers who will try to exploit this situation, irrespective of whether they come from a developing country like India or a developed nation such as the US or Canada. Take, for example, Apple, the world’s richest organization. They see the entire world as a supplier of labor and always look towards China, India, and other Southeast Asian countries where they can exploit cheap labor. The goal is to maximize profits. For individuals, we do not see it as profit but as savings (bachat).
For us to implement a minimum wage structure that includes labor dignity and respect, it will only be successful when the purchasing power of our entire nation improves. Until then, we will always treat the excess labor supply as a commodity and pay wages according to market conditions.
As soon as someone praise india the victim group gets activated. A chai wala can become PM with hard work. In populated india and throat cut competition, we get time to show we are victims.
Why is India comfortable for living?labour is dirt cheap, and exploited, they are treated like dirt, exceptions few.
Wages should be fixed and Universal basic income, should be worked out, rather than ration system. All drama is worked around political tamasha.
Have you ever thought about the population difference, the work load, and other factors before writing this article about some trending Instagram reels miss? Hmm…? Do you know that people return things soo much from a lower income class to the higher ups hmmm??? Don’t you know that these big companies giants haven’t thought about this thing…… Of course you don’t because you’re an online reels, snaps person why would you even bother to think this. Now well please give your brain and eyes a rest and think on this subject.
Namaste 🙏🙏🙏
Amna you are right on a certain level. But the UK, US are not worth glorifying at all. Their NHS is in a shambles; as you must know, junior doctors are protesting from the last 6 months or so for humane working conditions.
And don’t even get me started on how healthcare in the US works! In India, abortion is a fundamental right. In the US even a rape victim can’t get an abortion. Alternative medicine is popular as normal healthcare is beyond the reach of many save a rich few.
All that glitters is not gold.
I totally disagree with this. The pay should be commiserate to the effort of the person and also the cost of acquiring the expertise. Then there is also there is demand and supply.
If you hike labour cost and cost of running an industry, industries just move to a cheaper place. The west due to this, is suffering as all the industries, moved to china and other cheaper places. There is very limited growth for the country when it happens. The Chinese status now has happened only because of this movement of industries, which happened because of high cost of labour. The leftist people, who has never employed a person or run a company will say improve the pay. But it’s the industrialist is the one who is paying for the people.
Another important point is that,if people are paid higher pays for less qualified jobs, there will be lesser need for them to get education. This will deeply impact their quality in the long run.
India shouldn’t never imbibe the western standards and follow the path to destruction.
You should get your facts right. It is more out of compulsion rather than respect! And it extends to other forms of labour which the west is importing from India (outsourcing).
This is so true. Well said.
Labour unions are now a thing of the past and hence a labour market in an environment with unemployment and scarce opportunities, cheap un-organised labour that can be exploited is easier to be found and exploited.
No doubt canada is hell for livivng stanadard
You need to fall sick in Canada to know how their medical system works. Pathetic.
If the supply of labour is more than its demand then it is clear that the wages would be lower.
Just to make it funny, they are only labour, and look at Indian love of that labour. Dangerous. Distant. Another.
The lady knows that she can have her parcel collected from home but there is an extra fee.
In the West Nothing is free
A bit naive. Some of the West’s prosperity is the result of exploitation of natives of America, Africa, Asia, Australia over centuries. The respect and dignity that they now extend to their labour never existed for the peoples they enslaved. Once they wiped out local ethnicities like in America and Australia all the codes of human dignity and rights were developed. No point in comparing with India, with too many people and too few jobs.
I completely agree with you on the count that the Western society has been largely exploitative of its ethnic population, and, now its more out of a shortage of labour or their exorbitantly high rates, and, not so much out of respect for the labour force that the Westerners perform most of their tasks themselves.
Therefore, its mostly compulsion and not necessarily recognition of human rights by extending a fair deal to workers.
However, I am sure there are certainly things to learn from the West as well.
And as Amna has pointed out there is no denying the fact that we here in India do take our labour force for granted in the absence of a pay structure and other basic benefits for them.
Therefore, while we as beneficiaries of someone’s service, must treat the service provider with respect and ensure to pay them their rightful dues, the private players and governments have a much bigger role to play in making sure the workers get their labour’s worth.
When it comes to giving Gyan, no one can match an Indian. Particularly, when it is high on morality.