HYDERABAD: Wages are going down for manual labourers at various labour addas in Hyderabad because people have stopped hiring them for construction works amid the Coronavirus panic in Hyderabad. Every morning, 200-300 labourers congregate at over 150 labour addas in the city.
Most of them are migrants from neighbouring villages. They are going back to their villages because there is no work demand in the city. It’s almost as if construction has stopped altogether in most places.
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Some have started working for lesser wages because not many people are hiring them as they did before March 14. Labourers who usually come from States like Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh to Hyderabad in search of work have already left the city.
“Every morning I come to the adda religiously. Only once in a month or so, I do not get hired. That is understandable. But for the last four days, I am coming here and going back home idle. I will have to return to my village now, empty-handed,” said Narsingh, a resident of Allur village, Chevella.
Another construction worker Raju said, “Each day is getting difficult. I was collecting money to run a small business. But now I am using the money that I have already collected over one month. I cannot imagine the future anymore if this continues.”
He said, “Now, like many others, I started working for lower wages. Generally, for eight hours of work, we charge `600. But now, I am also working for wages as low as `300.”