At Sarita Vihar labour chowk, where 400 men gather every day looking for work, uncertainty hung like the winter morning mist. "The daily going rate for a raj mistry is Rs 550 and for a beldar it is Rs 350. We live hand to mouth. Today, when maliks turned up, they said they will pay us in a few days because they do not have enough change," Ram Pyarelal, a beldar, said.