ROURKELA: Neeraj Thakur of Birmitrapur used to travel 30 km daily to Rourkela to work in a hair saloon. He earned Rs 7,000- Rs 12,000 per month of which Rs 3,000 went to travel by bus.
However, the lockdown to prevent spread of coronavirus, has kept him out of work for the last three days. With a family of six to support including two kids aged five and three and an ailing mother, Neeraj is worried as he has no personal savings and there is little hope of taking a loan to tide through the crisis.
“I am worried about my family. The rations are going to be exhausted in the next two days and arranging medicines for my ailing mother is also a major concern,” he said.
Sanoj Thakur, the owner of the saloon where Neeraj works is also worried.
His saloon has been closed for the three days and he is unsure whether he will be able to open it soon.
Laitu Lakra, a daily wage earner of IDL area said he has been out of work for the last three days as the contractor for whom he worked has stopped all construction work after the lockdown.
Similar is the plight of Jatin Das, a cobbler, who worked on the footpath of main road and was forcibly asked to leave the place.
The lockdown for the medical emergency has directly affected daily workers of Panposh sub-division who travel to Rourkela daily in search of daily wage jobs. National Vice-President of CITU Bishnu Mohanty said a whopping one lakh workers engaged in the unorganised sector hailing from in and around Rourkela city have lost their jobs.
He demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to help such beleaguered workers by providing them minimum assistance to survive. “The State Government should come forward to help them on the lines of Kerala,” Mohanty said.
Help for the poor
1 Lakh workers engaged in the unorganised sector in and around Rourkela city have lost their jobs
Intervention of PM Narendra Modi and CM Naveen Patnaik sought to provide them minimum assistance to survive