INDUSTRIAL SUPERSTITIONS — PART 3
Minish Umrani (Industrial Consultant)
Mobile: 9822390363 | minish@leansigmasolutions.in
[“MARATHI PEOPLE DO NOT WORK”]
If we repeatedly tell a small child that he is stubborn, there is a possibility that, hearing it again and again, he will actually become stubborn. On the other hand, if we keep appreciating a child from an early age for being capable and well behaved—without putting him on a pedestal, of course—there is a greater chance that he will develop those qualities.
Something similar may happen with the Marathi person.
We keep repeating the belief that Marathi people are lazy, and perhaps, by repeatedly saying it, we are unconsciously reinforcing that very behaviour. That is why I want to examine this belief.
The ideas that Marathi people are “lazy,” that they “avoid work,” or that they lack a “business mindset” seem to have existed—or been created—for a long time. These beliefs are particularly directed at workers.
The old habit of saying, “Why are Marathi people behind in business?” while selling one's shop to a Marwari businessman has largely disappeared. Marathi entrepreneurs themselves have already challenged that stereotype.
Perhaps a similar belief gradually developed about Marathi workers: that a Marathi worker in a factory—or even a Marathi carpenter, plumber or other service provider called for household work—does not work properly or does not finish work on time.
Then, after a few such experiences, the belief becomes stronger and eventually gets treated as universal.
For the last ten or fifteen years, workers from other states have entered Maharashtra's factories in very large numbers. Since then, complaints about Marathi workers may have become more visible because direct comparisons started becoming common.
The first comparison is often this: a non-Marathi worker is willing to work twelve hours, while a Marathi worker is not even willing to stay for overtime after eight hours.
When workers from other states first came to Maharashtra looking for work, many were willing to work twelve hours for whatever wages were available. Once one worker got a job, he would often bring relatives and people from his village. Factory owners could then get groups of workers who were willing to work long hours.
Communication was also easy because the group leader could be instructed and he would get the work done from the group. When necessary, they would work late at night because many lived within the factory premises.
Naturally, this was highly beneficial to factory owners, so such workers spread widely.
There is no complaint about that. The question is whether this situation itself helped strengthen the belief that “Marathi workers are lazy.”
Workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other Hindi-speaking regions became common across small and large industries. They were visible not only in factories but also among vegetable vendors, grocery stores and hotels.
You may also have noticed how easily our everyday language has changed. Even in a Marathi-owned factory, managers often have to speak to workers in Hindi. I have repeatedly experienced this during training: even if only one worker is non-Marathi, the training language often has to become Hindi.
While consulting at a factory in Goa, the owner once told me, “We are beginning to forget our mother tongue because we have to speak Hindi in the factory for these workers. But what can we do? Our own people do not want to work.”
Common complaints about Marathi workers include:
1. They do not come to work on time.
2. They remain absent without informing anyone.
3. They do not work wholeheartedly.
4. They are unwilling to work overtime.
Anything else?
Now let us look at some complaints increasingly heard about non-Marathi workers:
1. They go back to their villages for one or two months every year, causing production to fall sharply.
2. They often have to be repeatedly called back after going home.
3. There is no certainty that an entire group will return.
4. They take advances and leave for their villages; if they do not return, the money is lost.
5. Sometimes they have to be brought back by providing air tickets.
6. Their sense of monopoly and assertiveness at work has increased.
7. They expect twelve-hour shifts and are unwilling to work eight-hour shifts.
8. Accommodation and food arrangements have to be provided.
9. Their workplace and living areas are sometimes kept unhygienic.
10. They may be unwilling to do tasks other than production work.
11. Gutkha consumption and spitting at the workplace can be excessive.
12. They do not learn Marathi, so communication has to take place in broken Hindi.
Good heavens!
Why do workers from other states come to Maharashtra? Because there are not enough employment opportunities in their home regions. They come here specifically to earn money. Their families remain there, while the workers live here alone or in groups.
Naturally, they do not have to go home every evening or attend to household responsibilities here. Therefore, they can work twelve hours because they need to earn money and send it home.
A Marathi worker, on the other hand, is local. He may have a household to manage and perhaps agricultural responsibilities as well. His family may live with him, and he has responsibilities there too. We often forget this.
A migrant worker may spend an entire month or two in his village dealing with family responsibilities, weddings, house construction, land transactions and other matters.
Even so, the total number of days a Marathi worker takes off in a year is unlikely to be thirty or sixty days, and his leave is generally not one continuous month.
An advance may be requested by both. But you know the local worker's home address. With a migrant worker, you may have only a mobile number. If that number is switched off or changed, the contact is gone.
As for working twelve hours: ask yourself honestly—does the job really require twelve hours every day? If it does, something may be wrong with the system. And does being physically present for twelve hours mean that a person actually works productively for twelve hours?
I do not need to explain what can happen in factories after official working hours.
The purpose of this article is absolutely not to say that factories should stop hiring workers from other states. Every citizen of India has the right to work wherever he or she wants and in whatever occupation he or she chooses.
The only purpose is to examine the truth behind the belief that “Marathi people are lazy.”
What do you think?
.... PART 3 ENDS
Minish Umrani (Industrial Consultant)
Mobile: 9822390363 | minish@leansigmasolutions.in
[“MARATHI PEOPLE DO NOT WORK”]
If we repeatedly tell a small child that he is stubborn, there is a possibility that, hearing it again and again, he will actually become stubborn. On the other hand, if we keep appreciating a child from an early age for being capable and well behaved—without putting him on a pedestal, of course—there is a greater chance that he will develop those qualities.
Something similar may happen with the Marathi person.
We keep repeating the belief that Marathi people are lazy, and perhaps, by repeatedly saying it, we are unconsciously reinforcing that very behaviour. That is why I want to examine this belief.
The ideas that Marathi people are “lazy,” that they “avoid work,” or that they lack a “business mindset” seem to have existed—or been created—for a long time. These beliefs are particularly directed at workers.
The old habit of saying, “Why are Marathi people behind in business?” while selling one's shop to a Marwari businessman has largely disappeared. Marathi entrepreneurs themselves have already challenged that stereotype.
Perhaps a similar belief gradually developed about Marathi workers: that a Marathi worker in a factory—or even a Marathi carpenter, plumber or other service provider called for household work—does not work properly or does not finish work on time.
Then, after a few such experiences, the belief becomes stronger and eventually gets treated as universal.
For the last ten or fifteen years, workers from other states have entered Maharashtra's factories in very large numbers. Since then, complaints about Marathi workers may have become more visible because direct comparisons started becoming common.
The first comparison is often this: a non-Marathi worker is willing to work twelve hours, while a Marathi worker is not even willing to stay for overtime after eight hours.
When workers from other states first came to Maharashtra looking for work, many were willing to work twelve hours for whatever wages were available. Once one worker got a job, he would often bring relatives and people from his village. Factory owners could then get groups of workers who were willing to work long hours.
Communication was also easy because the group leader could be instructed and he would get the work done from the group. When necessary, they would work late at night because many lived within the factory premises.
Naturally, this was highly beneficial to factory owners, so such workers spread widely.
There is no complaint about that. The question is whether this situation itself helped strengthen the belief that “Marathi workers are lazy.”
Workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other Hindi-speaking regions became common across small and large industries. They were visible not only in factories but also among vegetable vendors, grocery stores and hotels.
You may also have noticed how easily our everyday language has changed. Even in a Marathi-owned factory, managers often have to speak to workers in Hindi. I have repeatedly experienced this during training: even if only one worker is non-Marathi, the training language often has to become Hindi.
While consulting at a factory in Goa, the owner once told me, “We are beginning to forget our mother tongue because we have to speak Hindi in the factory for these workers. But what can we do? Our own people do not want to work.”
Common complaints about Marathi workers include:
1. They do not come to work on time.
2. They remain absent without informing anyone.
3. They do not work wholeheartedly.
4. They are unwilling to work overtime.
Anything else?
Now let us look at some complaints increasingly heard about non-Marathi workers:
1. They go back to their villages for one or two months every year, causing production to fall sharply.
2. They often have to be repeatedly called back after going home.
3. There is no certainty that an entire group will return.
4. They take advances and leave for their villages; if they do not return, the money is lost.
5. Sometimes they have to be brought back by providing air tickets.
6. Their sense of monopoly and assertiveness at work has increased.
7. They expect twelve-hour shifts and are unwilling to work eight-hour shifts.
8. Accommodation and food arrangements have to be provided.
9. Their workplace and living areas are sometimes kept unhygienic.
10. They may be unwilling to do tasks other than production work.
11. Gutkha consumption and spitting at the workplace can be excessive.
12. They do not learn Marathi, so communication has to take place in broken Hindi.
Good heavens!
Why do workers from other states come to Maharashtra? Because there are not enough employment opportunities in their home regions. They come here specifically to earn money. Their families remain there, while the workers live here alone or in groups.
Naturally, they do not have to go home every evening or attend to household responsibilities here. Therefore, they can work twelve hours because they need to earn money and send it home.
A Marathi worker, on the other hand, is local. He may have a household to manage and perhaps agricultural responsibilities as well. His family may live with him, and he has responsibilities there too. We often forget this.
A migrant worker may spend an entire month or two in his village dealing with family responsibilities, weddings, house construction, land transactions and other matters.
Even so, the total number of days a Marathi worker takes off in a year is unlikely to be thirty or sixty days, and his leave is generally not one continuous month.
An advance may be requested by both. But you know the local worker's home address. With a migrant worker, you may have only a mobile number. If that number is switched off or changed, the contact is gone.
As for working twelve hours: ask yourself honestly—does the job really require twelve hours every day? If it does, something may be wrong with the system. And does being physically present for twelve hours mean that a person actually works productively for twelve hours?
I do not need to explain what can happen in factories after official working hours.
The purpose of this article is absolutely not to say that factories should stop hiring workers from other states. Every citizen of India has the right to work wherever he or she wants and in whatever occupation he or she chooses.
The only purpose is to examine the truth behind the belief that “Marathi people are lazy.”
What do you think?
.... PART 3 ENDS
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