As cultivation of paddy crop begins, farmers in Ludhiana are facing a shortage of labourers as migrants went back to their native states amid the ongoing coronavirus-induced lockdown.
According to farmers, the available labourers are "demanding high prices" for the work.
"Migrant labourers have gone to their home towns and labourers who are available are demanding high charges. They are demanding as much as Rs 6,000 per acre. The high charges of labourers are going to affect our income," Jugraj Singh, a farmer in Ludhiana, told here.
He said that they are small-scale farmers and cannot afford machines as they are expensive and cost around Rs 10-12 lakhs.
Notably, Punjab Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora had recently written to the Central government to arrange trains for bringing back willing migrant workers from their home states to join work.
Migrant workers had left for their homes from cities due to a lack of income as all industrial work and movement was halted due to the lockdown, imposed to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
( With inputs from ANI )