Mumbai, March 19 -- I wanted to run the 1,500 metres for India," said Anil Kumar, after completing a test to ascertain his skills at building a scaffolding, a structure used in construction projects to support workers and materials. Once, he was a state-level middle-distance runner but did not have the money for the kind of food a sportsman needs. He did land a college seat under the sports quota but had to give it up after a year because his family needed him to earn money.

"I worked in Dubai and Qatar, but now I want to work in Russia," said Kumar, 28.

Deendayal Gondh, 36, from Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, who has studied till Class 10, saw an advertisement for the same job on Facebook and applied. He just wants to make enough money s...