Daily wages: Promises unkept

Malti Devi (28) from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh barely manages to spare any time to play with her two toddlers, Renu (1) and Kavi (2) after a long day’s work.

Malti Devi (28) from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh barely manages to spare any time to play with her two toddlers, Renu (1) and Kavi (2) after a long day’s work.

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"I wake up around dawn to make breakfast for my family, feed the children and then leave for work. I barely see them for an hour each day," she said as her sister Rupa helped her lug a pile of brick onto a straw basket on her head.

Malti can’t help but leave her children in the care of their seven-year-old sister, Shanti.

On being asked about how much money she manages to make, the petite woman apprehensively looks around before whispering. "Around R100 per day. Before we joined, the manager told us that we would get at least R150. When I asked him why I was getting R50 less he said that the money would be given to me in total after the work. He said it was being done to ensure that I stick around till the end of the work," she said.