BENGALURU: Notwithstanding chief minister BS Yediyurappa’s May Day appeal to migrant workers to stay and help the government revive economic activity that had come to a standstill due to the lockdown, about 72,000 people registered with nodal officers to leave Karnataka for their hometowns or villages as on Sunday.
The number of people wanting to leave is nearly thrice the number of those wanting to travel inward – an affirmation that the state is a hub of employment opportunity. Workers find plenty of opportunities in cities like Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru, limiting outward movement mostly to Mumbai and Hyderabad.
“As of this [Sunday] afternoon, the number of people wanting to return to Karnataka is about 25,000 people, while those wanting to leave the state is 72,000,” a senior official with the Seva Sindhu project, which registers migrants, told TOI.
Nodal officers and police are sending teams to labour colonies to collate data on those wishing to leave the state. The drive has seen massive response, causing contractors, builders and the MSME sector concerns.
As of 2pm on Sunday, districtwise data accessed from the e-Governance department, which implements the Seva Sindhu project, shows that there were 36,762 unprocessed applications from migrants wanting to leave Karnataka, while 23,791 unprocessed applications of those wanting to return to the state were registered. An official, who is part of the project, said: “Registrations opened on Saturday morning and these unprocessed applications are the front-end. There are many more that have already been processed. So, together there are more than 90,000 applications, of which over 70,000 are those wanting to go from here.”
CJ Crasta, member, national executive committee, FICCI, said, “The labour exodus is the third big problem that we will face. As it is, there’s no cash flow in the economy and banks are not in a position to lend since there are huge pending bills from the state and Centre. MSMEs are struggling and the lack of labour will hit them hard.”
Roshin Mathew, executive director and president (engineering), Brigade Group, said compared to May 1, the situation worsened on Sunday with a majority of labourers wanting to return to their hometowns. “This will have a huge impact on recovery of businesses and CREDAI is taking this up with the state government,” he said.
DN Reddy, director, JMC Projects (India) Limited, a pan-India firm, said: “The issue is more psychological than anything else. We have paid workers salaries for March and provided food and weekly allowance in April and are even willing to pay April salaries. Although we took good care of them during the lockdown, we will not have a workforce when we open business. This will have a huge impact on projects.”
Officials said the number of migrants wanting to register will only increase in the coming days and once private vehicles are allowed to move, then a lot of them will also leave cities on tractors and other vehicles without depending on the government.
The number of people wanting to leave is nearly thrice the number of those wanting to travel inward – an affirmation that the state is a hub of employment opportunity. Workers find plenty of opportunities in cities like Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru, limiting outward movement mostly to Mumbai and Hyderabad.
“As of this [Sunday] afternoon, the number of people wanting to return to Karnataka is about 25,000 people, while those wanting to leave the state is 72,000,” a senior official with the Seva Sindhu project, which registers migrants, told TOI.
Nodal officers and police are sending teams to labour colonies to collate data on those wishing to leave the state. The drive has seen massive response, causing contractors, builders and the MSME sector concerns.
As of 2pm on Sunday, districtwise data accessed from the e-Governance department, which implements the Seva Sindhu project, shows that there were 36,762 unprocessed applications from migrants wanting to leave Karnataka, while 23,791 unprocessed applications of those wanting to return to the state were registered. An official, who is part of the project, said: “Registrations opened on Saturday morning and these unprocessed applications are the front-end. There are many more that have already been processed. So, together there are more than 90,000 applications, of which over 70,000 are those wanting to go from here.”
CJ Crasta, member, national executive committee, FICCI, said, “The labour exodus is the third big problem that we will face. As it is, there’s no cash flow in the economy and banks are not in a position to lend since there are huge pending bills from the state and Centre. MSMEs are struggling and the lack of labour will hit them hard.”
Roshin Mathew, executive director and president (engineering), Brigade Group, said compared to May 1, the situation worsened on Sunday with a majority of labourers wanting to return to their hometowns. “This will have a huge impact on recovery of businesses and CREDAI is taking this up with the state government,” he said.
DN Reddy, director, JMC Projects (India) Limited, a pan-India firm, said: “The issue is more psychological than anything else. We have paid workers salaries for March and provided food and weekly allowance in April and are even willing to pay April salaries. Although we took good care of them during the lockdown, we will not have a workforce when we open business. This will have a huge impact on projects.”
Officials said the number of migrants wanting to register will only increase in the coming days and once private vehicles are allowed to move, then a lot of them will also leave cities on tractors and other vehicles without depending on the government.
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