Mangaluru (Karnataka): Facing an acute shortage in workforce owing to the prevailing COVID-19 situation, builders from Karnataka's Mangaluru decided to fly in five skilled labourers from West Bengal.
The builders had employed workers from the state's Uttara Kannada district. However, the labourers got involved in agricultural activities in their native after the announcement of the lockdown.
The builders then decided to obtain the services of skilled labour from West Bengal.
However, with inter-state train services still suspended and road-journey almost impossible owing to the fact that they would have had to obtain permission from four states, the builders decided to book flight tickets for the skilled labourers. Each ticket cost Rs 7,500.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Naveen Cardoza, a builder, said, "As the building workers have moved to their hometowns, we are facing shortage of workers, due to which construction work has been stuck. Thus, we have recruited five workers from the Malda district of West Bengal. They are currently in quarantine, and five more are scheduled to arrive."
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