Job draught for daily wage laborers in Mangaluru amid lockdown

Mafazah Sharafuddin
May 10, 2021

Mangaluru, May 10: The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have caused a great hit to daily wage laborers. This lockdown is no different. For the past week, daily wage laborers from outside Mangaluru who come to Mangaluru seeking employment have found themselves without jobs. 

While the current COVID situation makes it important to impose such measures, the daily wage workers are bearing the brunt of this decision. Every single day that a lockdown is in place is another day of work and pay lost for them. Many of them work in agriculture, and daily wage work is what they do when there is no agricultural work in their hometowns. They come to Mangaluru as the pay for daily wage workers is higher than it is in their hometowns. 

They work as coolies, house cleaning staff, gardeners, etc. Since the lockdown has been in place, they have been unable to find people willing to hire them. The workers wait at bus stands, hoping that people will see them, interact with them and give them work, but most of the time they return empty handed. 

Although the current lockdown is to end soon, there is uncertainty surrounding whether or not another will be imposed. The livelihoods of these daily wage laborers have been completely derailed by this uncertainty. They are unsure when they will be able to have anything close to steady employment. 

The workers say that they have already sent their children back to their hometowns. Earning somewhere from ₹500-700 a day, they do not have much room for savings, and the money goes towards necessary expenditure like feeding them, their children, and rent. As long as these repeated lockdown keep occurring, the more likely a prospect starvation becomes. The situation is dire.

While celebrities from all over the world call COVID a unifying experience, it does not take away from the reality of the situation. While it is true, the grief, fear, loss and isolation caused due to COVID is something everyone is experiencing, that isn’t all there is to it. The choice to isolate and social distance is simply not available to everyone. 

Despite the severity of the COVID situation in India, the daily wage workers have no choice but to continually seek work. For most of them, their daily income does not come from just one place, and requires them to work in multiple places by the end of the day. This increases the number of people they interact with, making them more vulnerable to infection and transmission. This in turn puts their children and all their employers at risk. Because of this fear, at the moment, many people are avoiding hiring maids, gardeners etc. to minimize interaction and in fear of getting infected. 

With the lockdown in place, the workers are still looking for work, with no avail. Since most of them are from outside Mangaluru, the live in rented rooms. Because of the draught in daily wage work, they are now struggling to pay rent and unsure of how long they will have a place to live. 

As the cases increase, the desperation becomes worse. If lockdowns continue, it is highly likely that the workers will be unable to afford rent and have no choice but to return to their hometowns.

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News Network
November 22,2025

Mangaluru: Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy C H has warned of strict action against individuals spreading rumours and attempting to create insecurity within the Muslim community and fuel hatred between Hindus and Muslims through social media.

Referring to a recent social media post alleging that police personnel had entered a masjid premises to check whether beef was being cooked, the commissioner said miscreants were attempting to push their communal agenda. 

“A group of people, both from Mangaluru and abroad, are trying hard to spread rumours. For the past 10 days, they have been attempting to rake up old issues, highlight routine matters as controversies, or fabricate news altogether,” he said.

He reiterated that any such attempts to disturb communal harmony would invite legal action. “Cases will be registered and the accused will be brought to book,” he stated.

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News Network
November 29,2025

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New Delhi: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and deputy CM DK Shivakumar on Saturday put up a dramatic display of unity at a closely watched joint press briefing, firmly dismissing weeks of speculation about a power-sharing tussle within the Congress. With the high command nudging both leaders to sit together and settle the dust, the meeting became a political spectacle, ending with the duo declaring that there was “no confusion, no differences.”

Calling the reports of a rift “manufactured confusion,” Siddaramaiah said the talks had gone smoothly, even joking about their breakfast. “Breakfast was very good. All three of us enjoyed it,” he said. “We want to end this confusion once and for all. For local elections and for 2028, our mission is clear — Congress must return to power. There is no difference between me and DKS, not now, not before.”

He blamed the media for fuelling rumours and reiterated absolute adherence to the party leadership. “From tomorrow, let there be no confusion. What the high command says, we will follow.”

Siddaramaiah also assured that the Assembly session starting December 8 would run smoothly and vowed that Congress would take on the BJP and JD(S) “together.”

Shivakumar echoed the chief minister word for word, stressing loyalty and discipline. “People have given us a massive mandate. It is our duty to deliver,” he said. “This government was formed under Siddaramaiah’s leadership. We both have complete trust in the high command. If they tell me to wait, I will wait.”

He added that the two leaders had discussed strategy for the 2028 Assembly elections. “Whatever the CM says, I agree. We are loyal soldiers of the party. The party may be facing challenges nationally, but we will keep it strong in Karnataka.”

Shivakumar also said Siddaramaiah would soon visit his home for lunch or dinner — another symbolic gesture meant to underline their unity.

Both leaders later posted on social media describing the breakfast meeting as “productive” and focused on “Karnataka’s priorities.”

The BJP, however, rejected the show of camaraderie as “pure bunkum,” accusing Congress of trying to paper over an internal power struggle. But Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar insisted their united front would continue — and that there was “no confusion” within the state leadership.

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Agencies
November 22,2025

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New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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