Infrastructure, Labor, and Government A Study of Delhi Airport A thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the award for the degree Doctor of Philosophy From Western Sydney University Mithilesh Kumar Institute for Culture and Society Western Sydney University 2017 Statement of Authentication The work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original except as acknowledged in the text. I hereby declare that I have not submitted this material, either in full or in part, for a degree at this or any other institution. Sections of chapter 2 have been previously published in Kumar, Mithilesh. 2017. “Law, Statistics, Public-Private Partnership and the Emergence of a New Subject.” In Accumulation in Post-Colonial Capitalism, edited by Iman Kumar Mitra, Ranabir Samaddar, and Samita Sen, 59-74. Singapore: Springer. Parts of chapter 2 have also been published in Kumar, Mithilesh. 2016. “Terra Firma of Sovereignty: Land Acquisition and Making of Migrant Labour.” In Cities, Rural Migrants and the Urban Poor- III: Migration and the Urban Question in Delhi, 74: 37-49. Policies and Practice. Kolkata: Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group. .............................................................................. (Signature) Acknowledgments The completion of this thesis was not a realistic possibility even six months before the submission. That it has been successful in seeing the light of the day is wholly due to my supervisors: Brett Neilson and Ned Rossiter. They held my hand gently but firmly helping me cross the finishing line and they did it with much care and concern. I thank Greg Noble—HDR Director when I began my candidature. He helped me navigate the process of applying for leaves and extensions due to my health problems. He did it with compassion and humor all his own. I thank Ranabir Samaddar who is solely responsible for giving me a chance to pursue an academic career. His influence goes well beyond the academic realm. Paula Banerjee provided a space at Calcutta Research Group where I could pursue writing of this thesis at a very difficult time. Thanks to Pushpendra at TISS Patna for his generosity and kindness. I have accumulated staggering debts from my closest friends, most of whom are also fellow PhD candidates. I thank Ilia Antenucci both for teaching me political theory and giving me life lessons. Giulia dal Maso for her comradeship and irreverent outlook towards just about everything. There have been friends who have helped me through the most difficult periods of my life: Alex Coleman, Andrea Pollio, Cecilia Cmielewski, Christiane Kühling, Helen Barcham, Jack Parkin, Luigi Di Martino, Matt Nunney, Oznur Sahin, Sean Shepherd, and Sebastian Valdez. Avirup Ghosh for his intellect, warmth, and fine taste. Praveen Bishnoi and Daksh Sharma are friends for life. This thesis was not possible without their support and would certainly not have been as much fun. I want to thank Alok Sarin, Shilpi Banerjee, and Cristina Pastore, counsellor at Student Welfare Service, Western Sydney University, and Parramatta Mental Health Community Centre. They were responsible for keeping me functioning and out of harm’s way. Finally, I dedicate this work, warts and all, to Tsvetelina Hristova who for reasons unknown thinks I am lovable. Table of Contents Abbreviations i Abstract iv Introduction 1 Conceptual Background 8 Studying the Airport: A Question of Method 15 Chapter Outline 22 Chapter 1 A Historical Account of Location of Airports in India 26 The Colonial Period: Reconfiguring the Sovereign Space of the Colonial State 30 The Plan Period: Securing the Postcolonial Economy, Politics, and Territory 52 through Logistical Apparatuses Bringing Airports from the Fringe to the Center of Urban Space and Economy 60 Chapter 2 Three Transformations in the Process of Restructuring Infrastructure 67 and the Emergence of New Political Subjects First Transformation: The Turbulent History of DIAL 73 Second Transformation: The Problem of “Appropriate Government” for Workers 82 Third Transformation: Land Acquisition, Caste, and Problems of Granting 90 Individual Property Rights Regulatory Government and New Political Subjects 103 Chapter 3 Logistical Capitalism and the Real Logistical Subsumption of Labor 114 Walls and Borders of Infrastructure 115 Footloose Labor, Accumulation of Skills, and Emerging Logistics of Labor 130 Methods of the “Social War” on Logistics 138 Chapter 4 Domesticizing the Airport: The Transformation of Domestic Workers 148 into Logistical Labor The Changing Landscape of Capital at Rangpuri Pahari 153 Crossing the Threshold of the Domestic 165 Logistical Labor and New Repertoires of Resistance 174 “Solid Flesh Would Melt”: Body, Caste, and Gender at Work 182 Chapter 5 The Simultaneous Restructuring of Delhi Airport and the Taxi Industry 190 Layout of Infrastructure at the Airport and its Relation to the City 196 Airport, Taxis, and a Village: Conjoined Fates 199 Restructuring, Deregulation, and New Labor in the Taxi Industry 208 Testimonies of Radio Taxi Drivers and Analysis 221 Conclusion 235 References 241 Abbreviations AAI Airport Authority of India AERA Airport Economic Regulatory Authority AIEU Air India Employees’ Union ATC Air Traffic Control AGI Attorney General of India BRI Belt and Road Initiative BCAS Bureau of Civil Aviation Security CT Census Town CACLB Central Advisory Contract Labor Board CAG Comptroller and Auditor General of India CASUM-m Collaborative for the Advancement of Studies in Urbanism through Mixed Media CISF Central Industrial Security Force CITU Centre of Indian Trade Unions CLRAA Contract Labor Regulation and Abolition Act, 1970 CNG Compressed Natural Gas DDA Delhi Development Authority DIAL Delhi International Airport Limited DMIC Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor i EGoM Empowered Group of Ministers EPF Employees’ Provident Fund ESI Employees’ State Insurance EU European Union GTA Global Technical Advisor IDF Israel Defense Forces IMG Inter-Ministerial Group ISBT Inter State Bus Terminal JNU Jawaharlal Nehru University LD Lease Deed LG Lieutenant-General MCD Municipal Corporation of Delhi MPD-2021 Master Plan of Delhi-2021 NCR National Capital Region NCT National Capital Territory NH National Highway OBCs Other Backward Classes OMDA Operation Management Development Agreement PPP Public Private Partnership PUDR People’s Union for Democratic Rights PWD Public Works Department, RTI Right to Information Act SA Substitution Agreement SAIL Steel Authority of India Limited SDAD Sarvodaya Drivers Association of Delhi SGI Solicitor General of India SGSA State Government Support Agreement SHA Shareholders’ Agreement SSA State Support Agreement T3 Terminal 3 UIDAI Unique Identification Authority of India Abstract Delhi airport is an important infrastructural installation around which urban spaces and production sites are organized. This thesis studies labor, production sites, and urban spaces in the vicinity of Delhi airport at two levels. At one level, I study workers and labor processes within the terminal buildings. I also study labor in multiple sites that lie beyond the airport but exist in close relation to it both geographically as well as in terms of their production functions. These sites include a workshop located in the town of Kapashera on the border between Delhi and the state of Haryana, an urban village called Mehram Nagar that provides taxi services to the airport, and Nangal Dewat, a village displaced as a result of the airport’s expansion. My aim is to demonstrate how the production of goods and services in these sites is integral to the functioning of the airport. The thesis approaches Delhi airport as a central research object, through which it analyzes labor processes, informal settlements and urban villages, and modes of formal and informal governance. In this sense, I understand the airport as an infrastructural facility that produces relations between labor, capital, and government. Conceptually, the thesis operates at the interface of infrastructure studies, political economy, and theories of government and political subjectivity. I ask how spatial and temporal relations between the workings of Delhi airport and production sites in surrounding areas give rise to different forms of labor. My empirical investigations show how the transformation of informal settlements and urban villages in the airport’s vicinity conditions their role as a source of labor supply for the airport and associated industries. I also demonstrate that this transformation produces political subjects with contentious relationships to government and airport authorities. Because the airport’s operations generate profound changes in production relations, the governance of proximate spaces and labor sites is central to its functioning. I study the governing authority of the airport, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), in its relation iv to labor and urban spaces over which it exerts influence in matters such as eviction, the control of parking spaces and roads, and the fate of urban villages. The findings of the thesis are based on a combination of archival research, interviews, and observations. Archival documents include colonial records, records from India’s planning period, and contemporary government documents in the public domain. Court judgments, newspaper reports, and press releases also form part of the archive. The workers that I study include employees of a workshop that makes baggage trolleys, women who clean the airport’s interiors, and taxi drivers who rely