Chandrayaan-3 technician, unpaid for 18 months, becomes street vendor

After not receiving his salary for 18 months, a Chandrayaan-3 technician was forced to take up a side hustle. Ranchi-based Deepak Kumar Uprariya, who made a folding platform and sliding door for Chandrayaan-3, has been selling idlis on the street to survive.

The technician is selling idlis before and after his working hours, earning less than 100 rupees per day. He is reportedly among 2,800 unpaid employees of India’s Heavy Engineering Corporation.

Uprariya explained that he had already taken a loan of Rs. 200,000 and declared a defaulter. He then took money from his relatives to make ends meet, BBC reported.

“My wife makes good idlis. I get 300 to 400 rupees every day by selling them. I make a profit of 50-100 rupees. I am running my house on this money,” he told the outlet.

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The Chandrayaan-3 landed near the moon’s south pole in August, making India the fourth country to make a soft landing on the lunar surface. The entire project cost nearly Rs. 600 crore.