Covid extreme: Panchayats ban labourers from leaving districts

MYSURU: At a time when daily wage workers are battling for survival, a decision taken by village heads and several panchayat members in Old Mysuru has put them in more trouble. Village heads in Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar, who have voluntarily sealed their villages following a spike in Covid cases, have announced that daily wagers leaving the village will be slapped a fine of `10,000. Similarly, those who bring labourers from Covid infected areas would be fined too.

The spike in Covid cases has pushed panchayats to seal the villages and bar people from Bengaluru and Mysuru. Panchayat members and community heads of the village has informed all villagers that those who were working as daily wage labourers in other villages and cities need to stop working until the situation improves. “Instructions have been given to all villagers that they should not bring any labourers from other villages for any farming or construction works in the village,” said Devaraj, resident of a village in Gundlupet in Chamarajanagar.

With this new rule, the future for daily wagers seems uncertain. Most of the villagers from Chamarajanagar districts would take train or bus to Mysuru and work as daily wage-labourers in a construction sites. “Following easing of lockdown, we worked in several construction works and thought the hard days would now end. But the new rule by our village heads has come as a shocker to us,” said Rajanna, a 45-year-old mason.