All the towers, apartments, houses and townships are built by the strong arms of these hard working laborers. However, the majority of them are deprived of even the most primitive facilities, earning very low income.
Most of them are seasonal workers and they come from different cities and villages throughout the country. They are exploited for a short period.
**** Average Income Extremely Low ****
One responsible senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a worker with 20 years of experience earns 120,000 tomans (U.S. $141) since these wages are under the poverty line. How can they sustain their daily life with such a low income?
The current daily wages of workers is about 3,000 to 4,000 tomans, something between 90,000 to 150,000 tomans monthly and this figure fluctuates since most workers are not employed the entire year making the annual average rate considerably lower than this amount.
Ahmad. R. who works in a construction workshop in the north of
“You agree that this amount is not enough to run daily life. I sleep in a humble room. My daily expenditure must not surpass 1,000 tomans because I have to support my family as I try to send 80,000 to 90,000 monthly for them."
Hassan. R. who works in a similar workshop in the north of
It saddens him that he can only visit his family once a week, because transport charges are so high that he cannot afford to go back and forth to work everyday from home.
Mohammad. G. an old worker the headwork man in a construction workshop earns 180,000 tomans monthly. Even though his salary is more than others, he regrets he had to deprive his two sons of education in secondary school.
"They are very talented and they could at least have had a brighter future. They are currently working as car mechanics. I am very disappointed for not having been able to provide facilities for them to continue their studies.”
“My children have lost golden opportunities due to the financial issues gripping my family and nobody cares for the social affairs.”
“Whenever I see their classmates who are joking and laughing, I burst into tears and become suffocated. How could I afford to send them to school with high monthly education expenses?" he said.
Ali Rostami a resident of Loshan, who has five daughters and three sons, lives in a small house. He says, “I have a farmland, but it is not arable. The house belongs to one of my friends and I pay 30,000 tomans per month.”
"I have to tolerate this low income. My children go to school with a multitude of difficulties with the current income we are only barely surviving," he said.
Another young laborer from
According to the workers, like them, their children are being deprived of education. As a result, illiteracy remains in the lower social classes keeping them impoverished. With limited future prospects, this class remains perpetually poor.
The government must improve the livelihood of these workers with firm determination before it is too late. We are plunging into a deep-seated crisis.
Dramatic measures should be taken. It is the government’s responsibility to upgrade the living standards of poor people and reduce their sufferings. Measures must be developed within the framework of the socio-economic development plan.
People have withstood all the existing problems they deserve to be supported today and not tomorrow.
AP/IS
MNA
END
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