Services affected in Kolkata as migrants return to villages for rural polls

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Kolkata as migrants employed in sectors ranging from domestic work to hospitality and transport went to their homes in villages to cast their vote in the West Bengal panchayat elections, and many are yet to rejoin work. Kolkata, being a fully urban area, is the lone district in the state which did not go to the rural polls.Commuters also faced a harrowing time as many buses and other vehicles were requisitioned for election duty. Restaurants and street food joints were also affected due to the exercise. Shiladitya Choudhury, owner of a chain of restaurants in the city, said, «On the polling day on Saturday (July 8), we barely managed with only around 40 per cent of the staffers. We had kept our menu short on that day.» Owner of a roadside eatery in Salt Lake Sector V, the IT hub of the city, said pressure had mounted on his stall not only because some of his workers had left but also because other nearby shacks were shut.

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«The number of items had to be cut down on the polling day as my cook and most of the helping hands were on leave. There was no problem on Sunday as it was a holiday but on Monday, as the offices reopened, managing the eatery had become difficult,» he said.Satya Sundar Dutta, who runs a famous food joint 'Radu Babur Dokan' beside Lake Market in south Kolkata said, «The situation in the eatery is yet to return to normal as some of the workers have not yet come back from their villages.» He said the eatery could serve only tea on Saturday and Sunday. Life has become difficult for many families dependent on domestic workers as they went to their homes on an extended weekend, and many are yet to