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Having a bad day at work? Pity this man who cleans, eats and sleeps in a public toilet in India… for £70 a month
- Premraj Das moved to Delhi three years ago in search of a better life
- Took a job as a security guard for public toilets in city after spate of thefts
- Father-of-three prepares his meals, eats and sleeps in the conveniences
- Earns £70 a month and enjoys meeting up to 400 people a day who come in
- Mr Das is one of at least three men known to live and work in Delhi toilets
While many people would complain about the toilets or kitchen at their workplace, for Premraj Das his job means a public lavatory has also become his home.
For the 40-year-old prepares his meals, eats and sleeps in a toilet in Delhi in India to earn his salary of £70 a month as a security guard.
But the father-of-three - who moved to Delhi in search of a better life - does not complain, saying his only regret is that he must shut the lavatories at 9pm leaving him with a lonely night ahead.
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Premraj Das sleeps, cooks and eats at public toilets in Delhi, India, where he is employed as a security guard
Mr Das was employed as a security guard at the public toilets after the city;s authorities decided they needed to be protected following a spate of thefts, as well as kept clean.
As the guard Mr Das spends his days in his toilet, where he prepares, cooks and eats his food.
He said: 'I don't feel any discomfort living inside the toilet as it has become a habit now. It's like my home.
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'I feel sad only when I close the toilet at 9pm in the evening and I am all alone for the entire night and I don't get to speak to anyone.'
Mr Das hails from the northeast of India and formerly worked as a laborer in Punjab and at a local market in Allahabad, as well as on a farm in his home village.
But three-and-a-half years ago he moved to Delhi in search of a better life for himself and his family.
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Mr Das prepares all his meals in the toilet, living there to save as much as possible of his £70 a month salary
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The father-of-three says he is not embarrassed by his toilet home and enjoys meeting hundreds of people
Despite the stigma attaching to cleaning toilets, he says he feels no shame at what he does and used the £70 he earns every month to support his family.
He also enjoys the opportunity to meet hundreds of people a day who visit the city's conveniences.
'This is a dirty job but it's regular and fetches me a monthly income. I wouldn't get a permanent job anywhere else that pays this much,' said Mr Das.
'My family know that I have to work to earn a living for them and me. I have kids who are still too young to understand what their father does.
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The father-of-three works in a public toilet as a security guard, where around 400 people visit every day
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Mr Das uses the public convenience's wash basin to clean his cooking utensils at the end of every day
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Mr Das eats on the floor of the toilet and said his only concern is being lonely when he shuts up the toilet
'I am going to work here for as long as I can because I don't have many options. Everyone dreams of a luxurious life but how many can afford it?'
And he is not the only person pursuing such a life in Delhi, as other men have been found living and guarding toilets in India's vast city.
Mr Das's work begins each day at 6am, and rather than commuting home at the end of each shift, he has decided to live in the toilet to save money on rent.
Otherwise he would spend up to half his salary paying for a place to stay.
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Mr Das' room is within the toilet block, his clothes stacked against the wall and among his pots and pans
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He said he would rather sleep in the toilet than spend around half of his wages on renting a single room
'After the toilet is closed for the day, I cook food here and after having food I clean up the place and sleep,' he added.
'People sleep everywhere and anywhere in this country. I sleep here in the toilet - where else can I sleep with the money I earn in a month?
'I earn 6000 rupees and the rent of a single room is 3000 rupees, which I can't even think of in my dreams. Hence, I clean this place and sleep here.'
The father-of-three regularly sends money back home - and he says when he is not cleaning, he spends his day talking with the people who come to use the toilets.
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Ranjit Das also cooks, eats and sleeps in public conveniences in Delhi in a bid to earn as much as possible
Ranjit has also made a makeshift home in one of Delhi's public conveniences, setting up a bed there
He also offers tea and food to anyone who sees him in his makeshift home during the lunch or dinner hour.
He said: 'This job means that I get to meet new people every day and talk to them, hence I never feel disgusted by this job of mine.
'I like my job because I get to meet up to 400 people daily.
'People love me, be it the policemen or the lawyers. And that is why I have been able to survive here for the past three years.'
Read more:Delhi man who lives, works and eats in a public toilet in India for £70 a month | Daily Mail Online
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