‘Advanced Payments, Extra Incentives, Flight Tickets’: Contractors Trying To Get Migrant Labourers Back To Work

The construction sector was severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in scores of migrant workers returning back to their respective natives. Economic Times reports that due to the shortage of workforce many construction firms and contractors in Bengaluru are offering incentives, paying in advance and booking flight tickets to get migrant labourers back to work.

“We had 200 labourers earlier. The work resumed in June after a gap of two months, with just about 25 workers. But the workforce is slowly getting back as the fear of the virus is fading. The contractor booked flight tickets to bring back many workers from Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal,” mentioned a supervisor from an India Oil Corporation (IOC) site in Hoodi, Bengaluru.

Furthermore, it has emerged that workers who hail from Bihar are lengthening their stay in the Nitish Kumar-ruled state as the assembly elections are going to be held there soon. Hence, contractors who hired more than 20% of their staff from Bihar are looking at employees from other states for the time being.

ET also reported that the workers from sites of Godrej Properties in Mahadevapura have been allocated salaries for two months in advance itself. The supervisor over there believed that the staff has become more confident of returning back to work amidst the pandemic. Another developmental employee from Jharkhand admitted that he decided to travel back for work only when the contractor assured him of a flight ticket.

CREDAI Bengaluru chairman Suresh Hari mentioned the scenario has been higher particularly since September.

“Most of the workers are seeing Covid as a new norm and are learning to live with it. The workforce is gradually getting back,” he mentioned.