UNEVEN PITCH FOR LESSER MORTALS

Ground staff are lowest paid while scorers next in line with their annual income depending on number of days they work. Firoz Mirza speaks with those who are forgotten in the ecosystem

- Firoz Mirza

THE scorching sun was beating down relentlessly when Ram Dayal (name changed) along with a few other ground staff were busy giving the final touches to the surface. It was midsummer. The curator was standing close-by, hollering instructions. With the venue scheduled to host an international cricket match in a couple of days, Dayal and his colleagues had no option but to work from dawn to dusk without worrying about the extreme heat and its effects on the body.

If it is heat in the plains of the subcontinent, extreme cold and frost in the Himalayas and northeast India make their job extremely hazardous. Yet they labour on with their chores without fuss. They are the invisible force that help to maintain the beauty of the ground with manicured grass, sporting wicket that can produce runs and results and other associated paraphernalia that turn a game of cricket into a fascinating contest.

Rain or sunshine, snow or thaw... these men and women are the first to reach and last to leave whenever their venues host matches. Even on non-match days, they are responsible to protect the field of play from the vagaries of nature and sometimes even humans and animals. Yet, the return they get is pittance compared the revenue a game generates. They work for minuscule sums; most of the times, they are lower than the minimum daily wage rates as revised by the Government of India with effect from October 1, 2024.

Daily wages as per the government guidelines for scheduled employments in the central sphere (mines, railways, ports, construction) range from ₹783 (unskilled) to ₹1,035 (highly skilled), depending on the area ((A,B,C)) and skill level. Unfortunately, these men and women earn between ₹350/day to ₹850/day.