KURNOOL: The lockdown has turned life topsy-turvy for 25-year-old hotel worker Rajasekhar. He used to make a decent living with his earnings from the hotel and by driving an auto at night. But now, he’s in debt, struggling to make ends meet, and his auto has been seized by financiers.
Rajasekhar used to earn Rs 400 per day by working at a hotel in Maddur Nagar of Kurnool. After his eight-hour shift there, he would work as an auto driver.
He got married in February and life was going well till the lockdown began in March. The hotel was shut and he couldn’t use his auto for two months.
For almost four months, he had no income, and his debt mounted as he had to borrow money to feed his family.
The financiers confiscated the auto as he could not pay the monthly installments. Unable to even support his wife, Rajasekhar sent her to her parents and is trying to live off borrowed money.
The hotel was reopened in the first week of August, but all the 20-odd employees were not called back as business was dull and only takeaway services were functional.
Rajasekhar was called to work, but the conditions were stringent — Rs 200 for 12 hours of work, and that too only for five days a week.“Since March 25, I borrowed Rs 50,000 from relatives and friends. For more than three months, I could not earn even a single rupee, and now, I can’t clear my debt as my earnings are meagre,” he told TNIE.