Only “must”s, “should”s and no “shall”s

 

Only “must”s, “should”s and no “shall”s

I wish to tackle two different issues that I noticed in a single newspaper item appearing in the Editorial page, some months ago. One, how even the truly well-meaning people restrict themselves from the prescriptive mode of saying this shall be done even when they seemingly have institutional support. Of course, it could very well be that the very same institutional support is conditional, do not ever be prescriptive. Perhaps then I am barking up the wrong tree!

Two, about urban workers in the non-formal (mentioned as informal sectors, taking informal as the opposite of formal; this maybe so, but I do not agree) sectors who toil under unbearable conditions. The article gathers, “Construction workers, street vendors, waste pickers, gig workers or rickshaw pullers” under the banner of “occupationally exposed people” as specified by the Reserve Bank of India. The way the above as stated carries the flavour of a seine deployed to catch all the different categories of labour in one net, from top to bottom.

Now, to the first point.

Though not as explicit as between must and shall, there is an equally distinct difference, between should and shall too. The difference is the Kantian Categorical Imperative. To say it in simple terms, shall sets an ethical standard, as does how some of the Ten Commandments state moral prohibitions: shalt not.

The article I have mentioned (not cited) here traverses a wide area of different types of labour and appears to be sincere in advocating taking care of them and enhancing their well-being. Just as it bends over the edge to see what is at the bottom of the chasm, it pulls back at the last second. It does not get itself to say the categorical imperative shall.  

This is language prestidigitation that I have noticed in most such articles. They would seem to be arguing for a progressive issue but desist from exposing themselves. This is part of the governance system−small fish eaten by a bigger fish, and this gets eaten by another one higher up in the food chain and so on.

The article talks about something called Heat Action Plan (HAP) that is city-specific; to be clearer, specific to day labourers toiling under the hot sun. HAPs are guided by the National Disaster Management Agency, and I believe it is to avoid disasters. That is, NDMA is on its own track to obsolescence!

The article says a lot on what must be done knowing full well that powerful economic actors would erect every imaginable obstacle in so doing. For example, a gig worker would not be given a few minutes off in mid-day or afternoon to cool herself in shade, splash water in her face, or follow traffic rules. Yes, the last in the list above is the most definitive item of how safety of a gig worker is sacrificed.  The person who has invested his capital in the gig economy does not acknowledge that the gig worker is his resource.

Why? If not this worker, there are hundred others who are queued up in front of his office. The excess of labour is the Damocles Sword hanging above the labourers. There has to be a positive filter for people to climb out of gig work, and this can come about only through education and enhanced training in skills. Of course, a few can train themselves up the value chain even as they work in the lower rungs. Yet, one of the suggestions is for action through the corporate social responsibility portal. Dream on. Get the corporate out of the working of the people in the lower rungs.

How would you elevate the other types of workers−rickshaw pullers, construction workers, street vendors, waste pickers ... In my retired life, it so happens that at least every other day I have to visit a shop in the early mid-morning hours, say between 9:00 and 11:00 AM. The sight that most satisfies me during this trek is that the workers riding on garbage vans collects waste only from the designated places. Over time this has educated those who throw garbage indiscriminately, not to do so lest the stench percolate into their house. The public space is connected to the private space, one way to protect waste pickers.

Construction workers engaged in large projects are aware of the facilities available to them to save themselves from the sun, but not so the workers building single-story houses in semi-urban areas. These works need to be told their entitlements. Who would bell the cat? The writers who authored the newspaper item. Would they do it? I do not know, but I have seen the construction industry being pulled kicking and screaming to address issues of construction safety of workers. So, there is hope.

In Srirangam where I reside, rickshaw pullers (this is an extinct profession; it is more rickshaw riders now), there are very few of them, but there are a number of rickshaws attached to flat-bed trailers that transport sacks of vegetables and other items. And, these too operate beyond the most dangerous times. Street vendors also have become quite savvy in this matter. The street vendor we prefer avoids even the mid-morning hours and demands that we be ready to buy from him earlier in the day! This is good, for him and us.

People know how they can survive. We do not need to tell them what to do. Our duty should be to make it easier for them to live the way they have learnt to live under difficult circumstances−make them a little less difficult.

Lest I be misunderstood, I am not advocating that they stay in their profession. As I have mentioned, help must also be provided to them for them to climb up the value chain and such as to make HAP plans less and less relevant even as the globe warms.

So, you can throw at me my favourite phrase: dream on!

Raghuram Ekambaram