Heart breaking scenes of thousands of Indians fleeing from bigger cities to their villages and towns rendered jobless due to the lockdown moved an entire nation to tears. Now, that the lockdown has eased and worksites are opening up, many of the migrant labourers and daily wage workers are left without a source of income.
Also, the building sites, restaurants, retail outlets, etc. who heavily rely on labour are limited by manpower to function effectively. A few apps and websites have been developed in the past few months to effectively connect labour with the right work, based on their location. MyRojgaar and Majdoor are two such platforms that help connect blue collar job workers who lost their job in the pandemic.
MyRojgaar
“It was during the lockdown, while I was raising funds for daily wage workers and orphanages in Hyderabad through my non-profit initiative ‘Cause for Celebration’, that I came across Vegavid Technology who was then in the process of developing the MyRojgaar app,” shares Pallavi Priya, CSR and branding and marketing head, Vegavid Technology.
The MyRojgaar app, developed by Mohit Sirohi, 30, founder and CEO, Vegavid Technology connects skilled/unskilled workers and businesses. The app took two months to develop and went live on June 26. The aim is to connect labourers with companies/MSMEs across sectors such as construction, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, and hotels. It will help a worker get employment according to skill set and location, and help MSME hire manpower.
The app, available on Android supports English, Hindi, Telugu, Oriya, Gujarati and Punjabi, Bangla, Marathi and Kannada languages. It has an easy interface, and one can register by filling in their details.
“Any person who is in need of work can register on the app for free using a smart phone,” said Pallavi. What if a job seeker does not have a smart phone? “Any body else can help them register by entering mobile number and details of the person looking for a job,” says she. “Having worked on the field, I was aware of the ground realities and sufferings of the daily wage migrant workers,” adds she.
Over 1, 000 workers and 100+ MSMEs have registered on the app.
Majdoor
This platform is made by two college students, Ehetesham and Shahebaz, pre-final year undergrads (ECE) from of Muffakham Jah College of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad. Available as a website, majdoor.net.in (for labourers to enrol), and www.majdoor.app (for companies who are looking for workers), it is available in English, Telugu and Hindi and has categories for daily workers, plumbers, painters and electricians. Registration is free for both contractors and for those looking for a job.
It went live on August 1, and was designed and made in two months. Currently, they have a database of 150 labourers from Tolichowki and Attapur areas, and 10 contractors on their platform. Shahebaz, 20, says, “We are at present only focussing on Hyderabad.” On how they got the idea for this, Ehetesham, 20, shares, “We got this idea when we noticed that many daily-wagers had lost their jobs due to the lockdown and are in search of work now.” He adds, “We decided to create a platform for these majdoors to connect them with the construction sites.” This application will have the database of the workers, and as per the requirement of the users, they will be contacted.
In addition, the local masons will also have their profile for up for those looking for workers. With a plan to onboard about 1,500 workers and 100 contractors in the coming days, they want the application to “form a bridge between the labourers and available work.”
In line with the ‘give a man a fishing rod’ credo, a few companies have created dedicated online platforms to help migrant blue collar workers find jobs based on their skill sets and enable them to start their life afresh
— Tamanna S Mehdi
tamanna
@newindianexpress.com
@tamannamehdi