No exodus of migrant labourers from city

Unlike in Delhi and Mumbai, migrant labourers in the city seem to be adopting a wait-and-watch approach and desisting from a panic-stricken exodus despite severe restrictions and the weekend lockdown

Unlike in Delhi and Mumbai, migrant labourers in the city seem to be adopting a wait-and-watch approach and desisting from a panic-stricken exodus despite severe restrictions and the weekend lockdown imposed in the State. However, having learned from past experience, the government has ensured that this time around the construction sector, markets and industry remain largely unaffected. “We have been working on confidence-building measures with labourers and have informed them that we will take care, even in the event of a lockdown. This has stood us in good stead this time,” said Suresh Hari, chairman, CREDAI-Bengaluru. However, given that hotels, another sector that employs a large migrant labour population, has been allowed to work on only takeaways, Chandrashekhar Hebbar, president, Karnataka Regional Hotels and Restaurants’ Association, said if the restrictions were extended beyond two weeks, it would become difficult to retain staff and predicted that there would be a clamour to return home.