Migrant workers, who earn their living working as masons, labourers, carpenter, painter and as assistants in welding shops, are facing cash crunch these days so most of them have left for their home States. Generally, most of the labourers leave Dehradun after Deepawali because of Chhath but they return to the town and their work after celebrating Chhath but this time they did not return either anticipating the situation after PM's announcement or after reviewed the situation with their acquaintances residing here preferred to leave Dehradun.
Is should be mentioned here that Clock Tower, Jakhan and Rispana bridge are among the major sites for hiring labourers for construction and varied works. These places are considered problem areas for vehicular traffic because most of the time till 10 am contractors and others are a common sight haggling with labourers crowding the sites. These days roads are free of crowd because the bulk of the daily wagers have either left or have preferred to take a rest thinking they would not get employment due to liquidity problem among the people who hire them.
Talking to The Pioneer, Sonu, who sells vegetables at Nehru Colony, said that earlier people use to buy two to three types of vegetables but these days customers are buying only one type of vegetable so their sale has gone down by 50 percent.
Sanjay, a mason living in Rajivnagar, said that he used to work for a contractor and he prefers to visit his home town during winter season but this time the contractor is paying his due in old currency so he is unable to leave for his home state. He is unable to get exchange because banks are asking their identity card. Although he has an account in Allahabad bank but bank refused to accept his money by saying that his account belongs to outside the state, he claimed. As we know that banks are having core banking system (CBS) but they are not cooperating with them, as it appears in this case.
He further said that earlier he used to get work as well but these days the contractor has stopped construction work because the project owner is not releasing cash to him. In this scenario he is neither getting exchange nor is he securing daily wages. Although initially he bought ration on credit from his nearby shop in Rajivnagar but now shopkeeper is asking him to first clear his due before seeking further credit.