Out of work since lockdown, 4 get hired

They work at a protest site langar

The four labourers at the protest site at the Singhu border.

Sudhir Das, Anoop Kumar, Sunny and Adit Kumar were out of work for the entire lockdown period and thereafter, till a few days ago. However, at the protest site at the Singhu border, they’ve been employed.

The four labourers, from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, who reside in a rented accommodation in Narela have found work at ₹3,000 a day at one of the many langar services at the protest site. They come in around noon, set up a tandoor for rotis and leave around 8 p.m. It was their second day on Saturday. “We were out of work because we operate tandoors and weddings were not happening. Thankfully, we got this opportunity,” said Sudhir. The four of them get ₹3,000 a day out of which they pay ₹1,000 as rent for tandoor and divide ₹500 each amongst themselves.

Money for commute

“They also give us a money for commute,” he said.

The langar service where the labourers have been fired is being run by Baba Amreek Singh (from Patiala) and serves hundreds of people multiple meals through the day.

“We need the tandoor because we haven’t brought it with us from Punjab and we want to give people hot rotis. At night, the number of people who eat increases and tandoori rotis make less time to make,” said Kuldeep Singh alias Baba Kala who is one of the managers at the service. The four labourers also eat the meals here at the service and take food home, they said.