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In mid-nineteenth century Karl Marx talked about the ‘reserve army of labour’: a pool of workers who are kept in absolute readiness. But for Capital, they are disposable based on fluctuating needs. Their utility is not limited only in economics. Their vulnerability pushes them to accept lower wages which in result weakens the bargaining position of those already employed. Consequently, it gives capital its fundamental advantage over labour. In the words of Marx, they are ‘a mass of human material always ready for exploitation.’

This is almost the story of migrant gig workers in contemporary India. Recently, a 21-year-old food delivery boy Pandav Kumar, originally from Khagariya, Bihar was shot dead in the early morning of April 27 in Delhi’s Jaffarpur Kalan village. He was coming from a child’s birthday gathering. The accused killer is a Delhi police head constable. He fired at Pandav at close range after some altercation. Eyewitnesses said the constable began with the words ‘You are Bihari, leave from here’ and then followed other casteist abuses. Pandav was the only earning member of his family.

On the surface, his death can be seen as a result of a crime. There has been an arrest. There will be a trial. But treating this merely as a crime overlooks the background structure of it, the role identity and citizenship play in the Indian urban space. Pandav Kumar’s murder is not an aberration. It is a product of that order.

Republic of casual labour

India has between 600 and 650 million internal migrants, a number which puts internal migration at the centre of Indian society. Bihar itself sends out, to other Indian states, some 25 million workers, the second largest out-migration in the country, after Uttar Pradesh. These are not examples of voluntary migration, as that term is commonly applied. Bihar has the lowest per capita GDP of any major state (Rs 69,321 annually, one-third of the national average). More than 33% of the people are multidimensionally poor. Labourers travel because they believe the risks of remaining are greater than the risks of travelling away. They don’t simply go to the city. It is an imperative they face.

In Delhi, 60% of the workforce........

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