Rickshaw pullers, tea vendors, building labourers. These are some of the jobs that many of the 1,100-odd contractual workers at the Nestle plant in Rudrapur have been forced to take up after production ceased here following the three-month ban on Maggi in Uttarakhand.
Forty-three-year-old Rajendra Singh who hails from a small village in UP recalls with dread the day production was stopped at the plant which used to produce around 300 tonnes of Maggi noodles every day. “Bahut bara dhakka laga tha sabko us din (It was a big blow to us). Earlier, I used to earn enough to meet my expenses and send some money to my family but now I am forced to ply a rickshaw on rent. Income has dipped considerably.”
Like Singh, scores of other workers, mostly migrants from states like UP, Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh, after suspension of Maggi production, have had no other option but to take up jobs as labourers, domestic helps or waiters in Rudrapur and nearby areas like Haldwani.
As one interacts with these workers, for most of whom working at the plant was a matter of great pride besides being a steady source of income, it’s evident that they are hinging a lot of hope on the Bombay high court’s recent order giving a clean chit to Maggi, and praying that production resumes soon. But with a lot of ambiguity still remaining on whether Maggi will hit the shelves anytime soon — a sample of the instant noodle picked up from Haldwani failed a food safety test last month as well – time is running out fast for these workers who say that if matters don’t resolve in the near future, many of them will be forced to return to their villages. In fact, quite a few have already packed their bags and left. Ramesh Jha who is working as a daily wager sums up the mood of many of his co-workers when he says, “How long can we keep waiting for work? What we are earning now is dismal. That is why, many of my friends have gone back to their native places.”
Incidentally, in June, a few days after the Maggi ban came into force, Lalta Prasad, a worker from the Rudrapur plant had committed suicide. Workers here say that they can understand why Prasad was forced to take the extreme step. “The uncertainty and tension on how we will fend for our families is making all of us anxious and despondent,” says a worker.
Meanwhile, a Nestle representative, when contacted, told TOI that “the matter is still subjudice so we can’t say much but the 90-day ban in Uttarakhand is ending soon, on September 3.” “We will be watching the situation and hope that things will work out soon.”