Apart from coal price fluctuations, kiln profitability depends on managing labour. Singh outlines the
modus operandi: "The labour do not work on their own. You have to keep standing there to get the work done. Otherwise you would run a loss." But such surveillance serves another purpose: proper exploitation.
Running a
bhatta requires no expertise. "All you need is a
pakka munshi (tough manager) with work experience," says Singh. "He and the
phukaiya (the firer) are hired on a monthly salary. The rest of the labour works on a contract basis."
Depending upon the work, four types of labourers work the kiln -- the
nikasiwala (who takes out burnt bricks),
pathiaya (who makes bricks from soil),
bharaiya (who puts mud-bricks in) and
phukaiya (firer). They co-ordinate to complete a circle around the chimney. The number of bricks made after a circle is completed depends on the kiln size, and varies from 600,000 to 900,000.
Nikasiwalas collect the burnt bricks on one side while
bharaiyas place raw bricks
pathaiyas have made on the other.
Phukaiyas continuously burn bricks between the two ends.
"Profitability," says Singh, "Depends on how quickly the circle is completed without any fuel or labour problems". This is where 'managing' occurs. "We have to get more work from the labour and ensure that nobody runs away," Singh explains. "If any of the four runs away, the cycle stops. Loss."
The labourers are hired through a contractor, who takes a cut from the labourers' wages and provides substitutes if a worker runs away. Says Hari Om, "Last year, I hired seven
phukaiyas directly. One night, five of them ran away. You can't do much, for most of the labour is migrant labour, you don't even know their exact address." At 10 pm, the two
phukaiyas who hadn't run away informed Hari Om that the five had boarded the Sangam Express for Allahabad. "I immediately took out my jeep; drove to Allahabad with friends," Hari Om recounts. "I caught them at Allahabad station and brought them back to the
bhatta at gunpoint." All five were beaten up badly and their money confiscated to ensure they wouldn't run again.
Why go to such lengths? "The work stopped for 24 hours. In peak season, such stoppage means loss. They were beaten up so that others would think twice before running away," he says. Now, Hari Om hires labour through contractors.
Of the workers, the
phukaiya is usually a migrant. This is not surprising, for no one wants to do a
phukaiya's job. "It's the most dangerous work in a
bhatta. While working we have to stand on burning bricks; black smoke constantly comes out. We work 14 hours a day. People get burns; sometimes they even burn to death. That's why nobody wants to do it, at least locals don't," says Phool Chand, 35, from Bharvari village near Allahabad.
He has been a
phukaiya for 18 years. "Do I have any choice? My problem is that of all who come here. They cannot say 'no'; they are the needy. So most migrants play with their lives for a measly sum of Rs 2,000." Phool Chand gets Rs 2,500; he is team leader, experienced.
Most migrants labour come
en familie. "Here, there is work for more than six to seven months. How would we manage our expenses in the other five to six months if we don't save? So, the whole family gets into this business," says Phool Chand. Rapes and money-snatching are part of the migrant family's lot. Many cases do not even come to light.
Locals are comparatively fortunate; they do the other three kinds of work. A
pathaiya gets about Rs 150 for every thousand mud bricks he makes. Since their work is incentive-based, they work in families. Says Bhudev, 12, who works with his father as
pathaiya at a kiln near Aligarh, "We are four brothers; we all work as
pathaiyas in different brick kilns. Here, I am working with my father. We together make around 1,500 bricks everyday and earn Rs 225." Bhudev belongs to Bhuriaghari village, ten kilometres from the kiln.
Bharaiyas and
nikasiwalas get Rs 45 to Rs 55 for every thousand bricks they place or collect.
