Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Employees of T. Nagar shops suffer in silence

— PHOTO: K.V. SRINIVASAN

HOME: A dormitory for the staff of Saravana Stores on Ranganathan Street in T. Nagar.

CHENNAI: If the accident that happened last Monday at Saravana Stores in T. Nagar were to occur again, most of the employees in the numerous multi-storeyed shops in the area would still be unprepared to face it. None of them have yet been briefed about fire drills.

The thousands of young men and women, employed in the shops in Ranganathan Street and Usman Road live in ghettos reminiscent of bunkers from a war movie. Many of the employees, not out of their teens yet, are from remote villages in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin. They are housed in ‘hostels’ on Rameswaram Road, Madley Road or in sheds above the shops. The area above the car park of Saravana Stores near Panagal Park has been converted into a hostel, employees say.

The hostels are large halls (dormitories) and each employee has been given space on a steel rack to store possessions. The employees, who work from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m., must sleep on the floor.

Recently, the Usman Road Saravana Stores bought an apartment block on Rameswaram Road and converted it into a hostel. Jayachandran Textiles has bought an apartment block behind the TUCS Shop on Rameswaram Road. Hundreds of shop assistants throng the hostel for lunch and dinner. Also, the ground floor and a portion of the halls are used as storage space for fridges and television sets.

Balaguru Apartments, which has been converted into a hostel by Saravana Stores, is in a dilapidated state. A ‘hostel warden’ denies entry to outsiders. An iron grill installed at the entrance remains locked all day.

Both shops employ around 1,000 young women each, most of them from southern districts. In most cases, the starting salary is Rs. 2,000 with two days’ leave every month.

Jyothika (name changed on request) of Tirunelveli district began working at one of these shops six months ago for a salary of Rs. 3,500 a month but wants to quit.

“The hostel is not good. There is a long line to use the bathroom that has no door, just a partition. Girls literally fight for even that space,” she says.

While the women must take care of their personal needs, the men working in Saravana Stores can have their hair cuts at a designated shop.

“A certain amount is deducted towards provident fund but whether it is remitted regularly is another question,” says a relative of one the dead employees of Saravana Stores.

The women have to deal with workplace harassment also. On Sunday, a customer watched helplessly when a male shop assistant edged out a female colleague so that he could serve his customer first. Having to stand all day is stressful. A look at their wilting faces close to noon is revealing. They are desperate to leave the shop even if it is only for the half-hour lunch break.

They must ensure that a reliever takes their place before they can leave. During festival season even this option is not available because of the heavy rush, they say.

The women assistants are aware that they have nobody to fall back on if they get into problems.

Jyothika says, Namma pazhagaratha poruthu thaan irukku (it depends on how we conduct ourselves).

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