THE RURAL EXODUS (India, 2008-ongoing)
Over the years a complex interplay of factors – failed harvests, the burden of debts, drought, floods and caste discrimination – drew millions of India’s rural population to its expanding cities. They took any jobs they could get, often in construction. The fact that, to all intents and purposes, they were without any rights was translated into the conditions under which they lived: in temporary slums thrown up around the building sites, without water or electricity. Underpaid work, child labour and sexual intimidation are the order of the day. The workers endure it all, yearning for the villages they left behind.
