Coronavirus Lockdown: Migrant workers land in trouble, landlord gives them free shelter

An elderly landlord, moved by the sufferings faced by two migrant labourers, who are his tenants, has exempted them from paying rent during the lockdown.

“I decided not to collect the advance monthly rent of Rs 2,500 from my tenants,” said Vasudeva Shetty, the owner. He is an agriculturist residing in Thadambail near Suratkal.

Of the four rooms in his house, two are lying vacant after a migrant labourer managed to reach his native village a week ago.

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The other house he owns has been rented out to a man and his daughter from Hangal in Haveri district. Shobha and her father Lingappa declare that Shetty’s house has proved to be a timely help for them.

They landed here for the roadside culvert digging work in Sullia. Shobha, who was studying I PU, was forced to discontinue her studies due to poverty.

On reaching Sullia, the lockdown was declared and the contractor who had picked them up at the bus stand abandoned them to their fate. The father and daughter, hungry and without money, took a drop in a gas tanker to Mangaluru.

They then reached the Suratkal bus stand in the wee hours. Umesh Devadiga, who runs Aapadbandhava, an NGO, came to know about the plight of Shobha
and Lingappa. He introduced them to Shetty, the treasurer of Aapadbandhava.

Shetty took them to his house and gave them rent-free accommodation. Shobha also received rations worth Rs 700 from the landlord.

“Those with some privileges should make life less stressful to underprivileged sections of society,” says Shetty, who has won accolades for his good Samaritan act.