RAMZAN Khaskheli, an elderly person, is depressed because he is unsure of the resumption of trade activities in the peri-urban area of Tando Jan Mohammad in Mirpurkhas district where he works as a daily-wage earner.

The shop he works in deals with the sale and purchase of agricultural commodities. Normally, he gets a reasonable sum of money at the end of the day to make both ends meet. Since such shops are not allowed to be opened, Mr Khaskheli has been losing his daily income for nearly a month.

He is among the thousands of workers who have been bearing the brunt of the current lockdown in Sindh that came into effect on March 22. And as per the chief ministerial announcement, stricter measures have been put in place since April 24 because the number of Covid-19 cases has been increasing rapidly.

Lately, the Sindh government gave some exemptions to agriculture-related businesses to keep the agrarian economy afloat after the farming community made impassioned appeals to the government through newspapers. As the ruling party’s men are agriculturists, nay big landowners, they felt the gravity of the issue quickly. Their response was quick and positive which allowed the supply chain to remain intact through exemptions early this month for the farm-sector-related businesses.

But the daily wage earners connected with agriculture’s allied services remain the hardest-hit as they don’t feature anywhere in the policies. While the debate between full or smart lockdown continues between the federal and provincial governments, workers like Mr Khaskheli suffer the most

‘I get Rs6-7 per 50kg wheat bag when I load or unload them. Since the shop I work in has been closed, I have not earned a single penny’

“I get Rs6-7 per 50kg wheat bag when I load or unload them. Since the shop I work in has been closed, I have not earned a single penny,” he said, adding that transport remains suspended that brings wheat bags to the shop.

Countless such labourers in peri-urban and rural areas are facing the fallout of the Covid-19 situation. However, their problems are not part of the discussion in mainstream media while pros and cons of opening small- and medium-sized businesses are discussed regularly; the industrial sector has been given exemptions by the federal government.

“Labourers who work with us are currently facing extremely tough economic conditions. As we are not opening shops due to government-imposed restrictions we can’t purchase commodities – primarily wheat at this point of time – so these workers are losing their wages”, says Riasat Ali Kaimkhani, a Mirpurkhas based trader of agro-based commodities.

Shop owners like Mr Kaimkhani cannot open their businesses because it would lead to the gathering of labourers to load and off-load sacks of agriculture produce or commodities, thus undermining social distancing practices.

The transportation of wheat or cotton, for instance, involves loading around 500-600 50kg bags in a truck. That requires over a dozen labourers to deal with the huge quantum of bags and then offload them at some other destination.

Under normal conditions, shares a trader Farrukh Arain, workers are present at shops from dawn to dusk. In these extraordinary times, these businesses are disallowed for fear of secondary transmission of the virus. “We stay at home and avoid doing business now,” says Arain.

Traders of agro-based commodities face a double whammy. If they, somehow, are able to purchase commodities and stock them in godowns they might end-up facing charges of hoarding and profiteering by district administrations. Once a crop is harvested, peasants sell it to traders (middlemen) who sell it in the wholesale market.

Mechanics of agricultural implements are facing hard times as well. Grower Karamullah Saand says mechanic shops are also closed which means if a thrasher or a plough needs repairs, it cannot be done.

Mechanic Zulfiqar Ali Mughal points out that he could produce a locally-made plough after buying certain items from Hyderabad that would provide him with an additional source of revenue. “Repairing and maintenance of thrashers and other equipment can’t be done as my shop is closed,” he complaints.

Workers like Mr Khaskheli and Mr Mughal are counted among informal labour though they are, directly or indirectly, an essential part of the supply chain. While issues of urbanised daily-wage earners get a mention at the highest forum, their problems take a back seat.

Veteran trade unionists such as Karamat Ali and Nasir Mansoor contend issues of supply chain labourers don’t feature at the policy level. “Data availability is a problem but a safe assumption is that 25 per cent of total agriculture labour is connected with allied services.” Mr Ali says whilst the prime minister is worried about the plight of daily-wage earners, he doesn’t have actual numbers to gauge how many are affected.

While the agriculture economy contributes heavily to Pakistan’s GDP, the workers connected with agriculture’s allied services – in addition to peasants — remain informal. “These informal workers don’t fall in the social security net. The relevant laws and rules that deal with payments and wages will have to be amended otherwise it is these poor workers that will suffer,” says Mr Mansoor.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, April 27th, 2020