Migrant labourers turn veggie sellers

Tribune News Service

Jammu, May 11

Ravi Prashad, a native of Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, is selling vegetables near main stop of Gandhi Nagar along with other migrant labourers from different parts of the country.

Before lockdown Ravi used to work as a construction labourer in different parts of Jammu city but now he was forced to shift to this profession to earn his livelihood. “I have hired this ‘thela’ (cart) from a local and started selling vegetables to earn livelihood,” Ravi said. “During the initial two-three days I face some problems in the new profession but now have learned the trade secrets,” he said with a smile on his face.

“Necessity is the mother of invention” — this proverb rightly denotes all migrant labourers, selling vegetables and fruits on the footpath of track from Satwari Chowk to Green Belt Park.

Ten year ago, Ravi along with his friends from Madhya Pradesh had reached Jammu in search of job. They were working at different construction sites before lockdown.

Earlier, these migrant labourers had decided to return to their native places after the imposition of lockdown but later they abandoned the idea due to ‘hard restrictions’.