15 years of hard work but still living hand-to-mouth

Sohail Rashid

ISLAMABAD, August 29, 2010: Carrying a heavy machine on his back, Abdul Ghani, aged 50, has been sharpening knives, cutters and other items of people for fifteen long years. However he is still leading a miserable life.

“Most of the time I have to sleep in front of a closed shop and sometimes I sleep on a sidewalk at night because I have no shelter in the city,” said Abdul Ghani while talking to this news agency.

He said that he was living at an inn in Markaz G-9, but after a fire incident there he has been living in the open. “I usually have ‘iftar’ in mosques. However mosque administrations do not allow me to stay at night because of security concerns,” he added.

He is the father of four sons and two daughters, and all of them depend on him. His maximum earning per day is Rs300 from which he has to save a major portion for his family after meeting his daily expenses.

“It is impossible for me to manage all expenses of my family as inflation rate is very high. So at times I have to borrow some money from others for my family,” said Abdul Ghani.

Talking about his daily routine, he said that he works daily for six to eight hours in normal days, but in Ramazan it is reduced to three hours, which affects his income.

Ghani has to maintain his machine as well from his daily earnings.

“My machine is my only asset, and I have to take care of it as well. It requires a new axle after every three months and I have to change its body after some time,” he said.

In developed countries, fifteen years of work is enough for any person to make progress, but in Pakistan the situation is altogether different where people like Abdul Ghani are still at the same position from where they started 15 years ago.